Representative Thomas Massey, Republican of Kentucky, speaks at a pre-primary campaign event at Veterans Memorial Park on Monday, May 18, 2026 in Vanceburg, Kentucky, USA. Kentucky’s primary election will be held on May 19th.
Jeffrey Dean | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Former Navy SEAL Ed Galine, backed by President Donald Trump, defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie in the Republican primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District on Tuesday, the latest in a series of successful attempts by the president to take aim at political rivals.
The Associated Press, NBC News and others called the race Tuesday night, less than two hours after the first round of voting closed. By the time the race was called, Massey was down nearly 9 percentage points.
Massey has represented the district since 2012 and became best known as a contrarian within House Republicans. The libertarian-leaning conservative led the charge, along with California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, to release files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, over President Trump’s initial objections. And he sometimes votes against Republican priorities on the House floor.
His independence has angered Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Massey and made it his mission to remove him from office.
“The worst congressman in the long storied history of the Republican Party is Thomas Massie. He is an obstructionist and an idiot. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we will vote him out of office. It will be a great day for America! President DJT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday and reposted it on Tuesday.
Massey became the latest victim of President Trump’s revenge tour, showing that he still has significant influence over the Republican constituency.
Earlier this month, Trump successfully campaigned to oust a group of Indiana Republicans who opposed his redistricting push. Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in 2021 following his impeachment by the House of Representatives, finished third in last weekend’s Louisiana primary and will not advance to the runoff. Mr. Trump had supported Congresswoman Julia Letlow, who came in first place in the race.
On Tuesday, President Trump added Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) to the list of targets for punishment for lack of loyalty. Mr. Trump endorsed Mr. Cornyn’s main opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“John Cornyn is a good man and I worked with him a lot, but he didn’t support me during tough times, even though my first term was the most economically successful in our nation’s history and I accomplished so much more,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The primary between Garlein and Massey was the most expensive campaign in history, with $32.6 million spent on advertising, according to AdImpact. As money from Trump supporters and pro-Israel groups poured into the district, $7.9 million of that money went to fund attack ads aimed at Massey. Massey is an anti-interventionist and votes against aid to Israel.
On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took the unusual step of traveling to the area to campaign against Massey, despite federal law barring sitting Cabinet members from engaging in politics in their official capacity.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth was in Kentucky in a “personal capacity” and his appearance had been “thoroughly reviewed and cleared by legal counsel.”
