5 highlights from Tuesday's primary races
1. Trump critic loses renomination
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who drew the ire of President Trump for voting against parts of his legislative agenda, lost the Republican primary for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to Trump-endorsed challenger Ed Gallrein.
Unofficial results show Gallrein capturing 54.9% of the vote to Massie’s 45.1%.
Massie is the second Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives to lose renomination this cycle. The other is Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas.
Massie was one of five congressional Republicans to vote against the One Big Beautiful Bill, which contained many of Trump’s signature domestic policy priorities. He also opposed the election of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
Massie was also one of the authors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to release information related to the late billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
While Massie became a target of Trump for those positions, he retained support from many conservatives because of what they described as principled stances on several issues.
Conservative commentator Ann Coulter, a supporter of Massie, summarized the lawmaker’s positions in a Substack post over the weekend as opposition to “omnibus bills,” “uncontrolled government spending” and foreign aid.
Gallrein will face Democrat Melissa Strange, who overwhelmingly won her party’s primary, in the fall. The general election for Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District is not expected to be competitive because Trump carried the district by more than 35 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
