This story has been updated with new information.
A Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump before he even announced officially jumped into the GOP primary Oct. 21 against Northern Kentucky’s U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican who has butted heads with Trump for years.
Republican Ed Gallrein – who bills himself as a fifth-generation farmer and career military man on his website – announced that he would “deliver America First results for Kentucky.”
“This is Trump Country – but Thomas Massie is blocking the President’s agenda. I’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with Trump and deliver for KY,” Gallrein, of Shelbyville, wrote on social media site X.
The primary sets up a test of Trump’s power in a state he won three times. Trump endorsed Gallrein Friday, urging him to oust Massie.
“The incredible people of Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District gave us a mandate to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and the person that will help us do that is Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Fifth Generation Kentucky Farmer, Captain Ed Gallrein, a true America First Patriot,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday.
Massie has easily won re-election in Northern Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, since he first took office in 2012.
But Trump vowed this year to find a candidate to challenge him after he and Massie disagreed about federal spending, the war in Ukraine and the release of the Epstein files.
In a statement to the Courier Journal, Massie called Gallrein an “establishment hack.”
“After having been rejected by every elected official in the 4th District, Trump’s consultants clearly pushed the panic button with their choice of failed candidate and establishment hack Ed Gallrein,” he said. “Ed’s been begging them to pick him for over three months now.”
Why did Trump endorse a candidate to run against Massie?
Massie and Trump’s dislike for each other stretches back at least five years.
In 2020, they butted heads over a $2 trillion COVID-19 relief package, Politico reported.
In early 2024, Massie went so far as to back Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during his presidential run against Trump, though he endorsed Trump just before the election.
After Trump took office earlier this year, he and Massie had more high-profile public feuds.
For instance, after Massie spoke out against U.S. involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict this summer, Trump urged MAGA voters to “drop this pathetic LOSER, Tom Massie, like the plague!”
Despite previous opposition from Trump, Massie has dominated every election cycle since he took office in 2012.
He was primaried by two candidates in 2024 and beat them with about 76% of the vote.
In the previous election, he won his primary against three opponents with about 75% of the vote and crushed his Democratic and independent opponents with around 65% of the vote that fall.
Who is Ed Gallrein?
Gallrein’s campaign website lists issues popular in the GOP political sphere, like, “advancing conservative values and protecting parent rights, cutting taxes and regulations while growing the economy, partnering with parents and teachers to ensure children receive world-class education and keeping communities safe through supporting law enforcement and protecting the Second Amendment,” The Courier Journal previously reported.
The news site also said he owns and operates the Circle G Stables in Shelby County with his wife and is active in the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association as well as a member of the Kentucky Soybean Growers and Kentucky Corn Growers Association.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trump-backed Republican announces he will challenge Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky
Reporting by Jolene Almendarez and Lillian Metzmeier, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
