Ed Gallrein — a farmer and a former Navy SEAL who was recruited by President Trump personally to oust Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) — bested the incumbent in the Republican primary for Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District on Tuesday.
Its the latest victory for the president in recent weeks as he seeks to assert total dominance over the Republican Party, ousting politicians who wouldn’t fully capitulate to his will from the Indiana state legislature to the U.S. Senate.
Massie was perhaps the biggest target of all. He has been a thorn in House Republican leadership’s side for years, repeatedly voting against legislation Trump was pushing and leading the effort to release the Epstein files alongside House Democrats — an unforgivable offense in Trump’s eyes.
Trump, his allies and MAGA-aligned PACs, as well as a handful of pro-Israel PACs, pulled out all the stops in recent weeks to fundraise and campaign against Massie’s reelection.
When the Associated Press called the race Tuesday evening, Gallrein had received 54 percent of the votes with just over 70 percent counted, successfully unseating Massie, who has been in Congress since 2012.
Gallrein was recruited to run against Massie by Trump and his MAGA allies, who have not been shy about their disdain for Massie. The fight into the most expensive House primary ever.
On Capitol Hill, Massie is famous for repeatedly breaking with Trump and House GOP leadership. He has opposed many parts of Trump and congressional Republicans’ agenda since Trump returned to the White House, frequently angering the president and MAGA allies, while garnering the support of some right-wing activists in the base.
In March 2025, when Republicans were pushing to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open through the 2025 fiscal year, Massie publicly indicated he would oppose it.
“Congressman Thomas Massie, of beautiful Kentucky, is an automatic ‘NO’ vote on just about everything, despite the fact that he has always voted for Continuing Resolutions in the past. HE SHOULD BE PRIMARIED, and I will lead the charge against him,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post last year in response to his opposition, summing up the reasoning behind his disdain for Massie.
The CR, of course, was just one of the many times Massie broke with the Republican caucus and voted against GOP priorities. Right-wing and staunchly libertarian, he often referred to the increasing national debt as his rationale.
Massie was one of the two House Republicans to vote against Trump’s reconciliation package, dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill, and the tax cuts that were made permanent through the package. He was also one of the few Republicans who pushed for and voted to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. The Kentucky Republican has also been the only House Republican who consistently and publicly opposed Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran, voting in favor of Democrats’ war powers resolutions. Massie has repeatedly said he is against using taxpayer money on foreign aid, including to help Israel and Ukraine.
Frustrated with the lack of cooperation, Trump has previously called Massie a “nut job,” and a “moron,” describing him as the man “will go down as the WORST Republican Congressman.”
In March, he made a trip to Kentucky just to campaign against Massie and encourage voters to support Gallrein. This week, Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made a pilgrimage to the state to campaign for Gallrein at a rally. Though he repeatedly has asserted that he was campaigning for Massie’s primary challenger in his personal capacity, it was an unprecedented step for the sitting head of the Pentagon to campaign for or against a political candidate — especially against one who has been vocally critical of the Pentagon’s recent actions. At least one legal advocacy firm has asked the Defense Department’s inspector general to investigate whether Hegseth’s decision violated Pentagon policies.
“President Trump does not need more people in Washington who are trying to make a point, especially from his own party,” Hegseth told Gallrein supporters at a rally Monday night. “He needs people trying to help him win, to vote with him when it matters most.”
Massie was first elected to Congress in a 2012 special election. Before his role as a congressman, he served as the Lewis County Judge Executive from 2010 to 2012.
