Courtesy of Kentucky Lantern

President Donald Trump’s Election Day wish came true — U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie has been ousted from Congress. 

Ed Gallrein, the Shelby County Republican and former Navy SEAL Trump recruited last year to take on the seven-term congressman, won the GOP primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District Tuesday night. 

The Associated Press called the race for Gallrein at 7:54 p.m. Tuesday evening.

Gallrein, 68, will face Democrat Melissa Strange in November, but the seat is largely seen as a safe election for Republicans amid contentious midterms this year. 

“I entered as a Navy SEAL officer in 1983 because I had the audacity to think I could make a difference, and I did,” Gallrein said at his victory party. “I will serve this district, my party, and my nation with that same audacity to make a difference for them, their families, our district, our party, and our nation.”
Massie called to concede according to a Gallrein campaign official.

“My focus is on advancing the president and the party’s agenda to put America first and Kentucky always,” Gallrein said.U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie toasts during his concession speech at his watch party in Hebron, Kentucky. Photo by Arden Barnes for the Kentucky Lantern

Massie had gained Trump’s ire for a number of issues — like leading the charge to release the federal investigation files on convicted sex offender and financier Jeffery Epstein — an idea that Trump campaigned on but backed off of after winning a second term. Trump eventually directed Republicans in Congress to vote for the measure in November after mounting public pressure. 

Another sticking point for Trump was Massie’s opposition to the GOP megabill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, last summer. Massie said at the time the legislation would “significantly increase U.S. budget deficits in the near term, negatively impacting all Americans through sustained inflation and high interest rates.” 

Massie gave a concession speech that lasted nearly 30 minutes, largely because the crowd before him at his watch party interrupted him numerous times with cheers, such as “2028! 2028! 2028!” 

The congressman, who has seven months left in office, said that he didn’t mean to, but: “it started out as an election, and it turned into a movement.” He encouraged his supporters to not get mad and “just stay on your course, get our stuff done, get the things you care about done.”

“We weren’t really running against Ed Gallrein. We weren’t running against Donald Trump,” Massie said. “We were running for what we believe in.” 

Massie ended his remarks by drinking a glass of raw milk and giving a toast to his late wife, Rhonda. 

On the campaign trail, Gallrein repeatedly said he would support the president’s agenda in Congress. In an interview with the Kentucky Lantern ahead of the primary, Gallrein said his first step if elected would be to “go up there and build relationships, because (Massie’s) burned every bridge to our district, burned the bridge factory down, ran everybody off that would build a bridge except for the Democrats who hate us.” 

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth came to Hebron to stump for Gallrein less than 24 hours before polls opened. Trump also shored up support for Gallrein in a Monday night call to voters where he touted his other Kentucky primary endorsements, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr for U.S. Senate and former state Sen. Ralph Alvarado for the 6th Congressional District. Trump also lashed out at Massie. 

“He’s always been there when we needed him, he was always just absolutely stand-up for Kentucky, and for me, always 100% unlike this Thomas Massie character,” said when talking about Barr. 

Trump came to northern Kentucky to rally for Gallrein in March. The president largely railed against Massie, who he called “disloyal” to Republicans, Kentuckians and Americans. He also said “somebody with a warm body” could beat Massie. 

Throughout his time in Kentucky politics, Massie was seen as a leader of Libertarian Republicans, particularly those in Northern Kentucky. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, another Kentucky Republican who is an ally of Massie’s, said while campaigning for the congressman last year that if he were to be defeated, that would be “the end of the Tea Party at that point.” 

Massie ally state Rep. Gex Williams, R-Verona, said after the congressman’s remarks that he was amazed by “how enthusiastic” the crowd was in response.

Massie wasn’t widely “accepted by Kentucky Republicans,” Williams said, but the 4th District is home to several types of GOP voters and figures — Libertarian, establishment, MAGA and more.

“I think Northern Kentucky is going to remain the same as before. … There’s some folks up here that aren’t going to like having a congressman from so far out over there,” Williams said, adding that another opponent will probably take Gallrein on at some point.

Massie’s allies rallied around him the weekend before the primary. He held stops across the district with speakers including U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican. In reaction, Trump threatened to primary Boebert, but the Colorado filing deadline has passed for this election cycle. 

On Monday, Massie stuck to his native Appalachian region of the 4th District Monday with stops in Greenup and Mason counties before ending the night at a rally in his home county of Lewis. 

John Middleton, the Kenton County Circuit Clerk and a Gallrein supporter, told the Lantern that Trump’s endorsement had a “huge impact” but that “you have to have people that want to make a change in the office.”

“I think people wanted the Trump agenda, but it’s not just the Trump agenda, it’s the Republican agenda,” Middleton said. “I want my congressman to be effective.”

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Linda Blackford for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.