President Trump vanquished another perceived GOP foe Tuesday night as his chosen challenger, Ed Gallrein, defeated Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie.
That's according to a race call by The Associated Press.
Gallrein made clear throughout his campaign that he would support the president's agenda unequivocally and accused Massie of siding with the "radical left" over his own party.
Loading...
Massie, who says he agrees with Trump more than he conflicts, has frequently acted as a Republican foil to the president's agenda.
He made national headlines as the Republican leading the fight, alongside California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, to call for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. He consistently opposed Trump's involvement in foreign conflicts, introducing war powers resolutions to block further U.S. hostilities. He was also one of two House GOP opposition votes on Trump's signature tax and spending package, the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Massie has called the race a "referendum" on whether his constituents want a candidate who is willing to stand up to the president when they disagree and vote principles over party. He said that it's not just the American people and pundits watching the outcome of his primary — it's also his colleagues.
Speaking on Tuesday night, Massie said: "Today is the six month anniversary of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. We've taken out two dozen CEOs and ambassador and a prince, a prime minister, a minister of culture, and that was just six months, I got seven months left in Congress."
During his second term, Trump has repeatedly attacked Massie, despite the two endorsing each other in 2024. Trump came to northern Kentucky in March and rallied support for Gallrein, whom he asked to run against Massie.
Earlier this week, Trump released a video message on social media, encouraging northern Kentuckians to vote for Gallrein, ridiculing Massie.
"The guy's a total disaster and you know who it is, Thomas Massie, he's the worst. So, we have to get out and vote. We have to make sure that Ed gets there," Trump said.
The northern Kentucky race continues the trend of this midterm primary season in which Trump has been able to exert his control over the party to defeat incumbents he dislikes.
In Louisiana, GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, came in third in his primary. In Indiana, all but one of the Republican senators who blocked the president's mid-term redistricting effort lost their primaries to Trump-endorsed candidates.
And in Kentucky's GOP primary for an open U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell, Rep. Andy Barr easily beat out his Republican opponents on Tuesday night to win his party's nomination after receiving the president's endorsement earlier this month.
Copyright 2026 NPR
