FORT THOMAS, KENTUCKY – Thomas Massey took the microphone and cut straight to the point. President Donald Trump was against him. But Macy fought for gun owners and had the support of National Association for Gun Rights To prove it. He said local farmers are also in support of the bill that would ease meat processing requirements.
“These are the things I fight for,” he said to the room of Republican activists who gathered in a mess hall near the banks of the Ohio River south of Cincinnati to hear from local candidates on a gloomy Saturday afternoon. “I will fight for you.”
Randy Burling disagreed.
“He’s a Democrat in a Republican hat. … He takes credit for things he says he’s a part of, but everybody knows he’s not a part of,” said Burling, a Republican from near Melbourne, heading for the door after the speech. Who did they plan to vote for in the May 19 primary election? “Not this guy.”
Massie’s continued rebellions against the President and GOP leadership are catching up with him as he faces his toughest re-election bid in more than a decade.
Local Republicans have been trying to oust Massie for years, believing he’s more focused on foreign wars, spending bills and headline-grabbing battles over the Jeffrey Epstein files than on putting Kentucky in the first place. Now, with the president finally mounting a primary challenge to Massie in the form of former Navy SEAL Ed Galren, those Republicans see it as their best chance to oust him since he won his seat in 2012.
But they may fall short.
Some? public survey Massey held a slight lead over Galren in the race show, which shows there are some limits to what Trump is allowed to do. Galren, a farmer and former state Senate candidate, has never run in a federal race and his name ID across the district is comparatively low. This has some of Messi’s critics worried that they may not be able to oust him from power now or ever.
“In my heart, I think Massey can win,” said Steve Frank, a former commissioner of Covington, a major Cincinnati suburb and Northern Kentucky’s largest city, who has become a critic of the ruling on Israel and local affairs and is supporting Galerin. “And if he can handle it, who’s coming after him?”
Massey is working hard to make sure he’s holding on to his Northern Kentucky district and aggressively raising money as he looks to counter the rising spending bill stacked against him. Advertising spending by anti-Macy’s groups has topped $10 million.
“I’m really glad that everyone is with both feet and everything is in place,” Massey told Politico, staying in a two-top Hebron hotel. “To me, that means they tried me and they couldn’t do it.”
all politics is local
Massey has established deep roots in his district. The libertarian-leaning deficit hawk, who came to power during the Tea Party wave, won his seat in 2012 and has been unseated by either party since then.
He has amassed a loyal following within the state’s “libertarian” movement, a small but emerging force in Kentucky politics that is rooted in his district and promotes his core ideals. He has helped acolytes place powerful allies within the Kentucky GOP in positions of power and seats in the state legislature, ousting some influential Republicans in the process.
But his sharp elbows and establishment-bending approach have made Massie a lot of enemies — from local leaders to Trump himself, who decided to jump into the race when Massie voted against his signature domestic tax-and-spending bill last year.
When the President recruited Galerien, he opened the door to huge spending. supporter trump And pro israel Force Against Messi. MAGA KY, the super PAC formed by Trump’s top political lieutenants, has spent more than $3 million to target Macy’s beating the representative To oppose the President’s immigration priorities and cut his taxes. pro israel group have spent even more.
This has energized local Republicans, who have their own grudge against Macy.
“This is the first time that Massie has fielded a strong opponent,” said Republican former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, who is neutral on the race. “Now we’ll find out whether it’s possible to build a winning coalition that includes voters who think Massie doesn’t support Trump enough and those who think he doesn’t support Northern Kentucky enough.”
Complaints rolled off his tongue in interviews: Massey voted against a funding vehicle for a major bridge project in the district. he is angered the business community Repeatedly, nearly a decade ago, there was a primary challenge from a former leader of the powerful Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. He has also received complaints about his constituent services, including from former Covington leader Frank, who said he once struggled to renew his Global Entry pass through Massey’s office.
Adam Koenig, a former state senator ousted by a disciple of Messitold Politico that he “forgot how many times (Macy’s) office referred people to me,” even on federal matters.
But, Koenig acknowledged, “We live in a world where component services don’t matter as much as they used to. Apparently that hasn’t hurt them so far.”
Macy’s heard it all before.
“Did you talk to Adam Koenig?” He asked when the criticisms were presented during an interview. “He’s one of the guys I singled out. And these are the things that he says. And they’re not true, and he’s just bitter. There are people who are bitter.”
Galren’s team is preparing to raise these domestic complaints against Massey at a primary level, including through targeted digital ads to people who say they have faced difficulties with the representative’s office.
“Every day, we hear from people who feel disrespected by Thomas Massey,” said Michael Antonopoulos, a political strategist who advises Galren. “His record of betrayal by President Trump will remain front and center in this final phase.”
At a trio of events in Northern Kentucky earlier this month, Massie addressed those criticisms — and others, such as his opposition to the war in Iran and aid for Israel, and his work with Democrats to release the Epstein files — prominently.
He insisted that his votes against district priorities were a byproduct of their inclusion in large bill packages with other problematic components. He said he sits on committees important to the region’s economy and transportation systems. He emphasized that he is against all foreign aid, not just aid to Israel. And he claimed that the administration had transferred him and not the administration.
Massey said, “A lot of the positions that might be unfavorable to the administration that I’m taking now are positions that the administration once held, whether it’s getting warrants for the (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), whether it’s releasing the Epstein files, whether it’s going after waste, fraud and abuse and cutting some spending.”
He also defended his work at the House: “We have great constituent services. We help people with Social Security and their taxes and their visas and their passports.”
Local GOP activist Tammy Nolan agreed. Macy’s office is helping her brother get disability insurance through Social Security. She was undecided about whether she should vote for the incumbent again, but said those efforts won her over.
“I’m going to support Macy’s because she supported our family,” she said. “Macy’s made mistakes. Trump’s made mistakes. But Macy’s stepped up.”
difference in viewpoint
Massey is presenting himself as an underdog as he competes for another term — a David against the Goliath of the Trump political machine.
He’s racing to win over voters in his sprawling district, which stretches from Louisville’s staunchly Republican eastern suburbs, Galren’s home base, to the purple Cincinnati metro area and to Macy’s home in rural-red Appalachia to the east. He has called on local Republican groups to add themselves to the roster for his events. He has ramped up his fundraising – breaking his own records doubling his rival’s most recent haul — as Trump-aligned forces try to sink him on the airwaves. Total ad spending in the race has exceeded $16 million, according to tracking firm AdImpact.
In interviews with more than a dozen Republican voters, many appeared to be struggling over which candidate to choose. Some people grappled with how to reconcile their support for Macy with their support for Trump. Others said they were disillusioned with both. Still others who were dissatisfied with Massey said they did not know enough about his opponent beyond his support of Trump to make up their minds.
Galren, a farmer and war veteran, is relying on Trump’s endorsement and his military service to sell his candidacy. He has avoided many debates and forums, which his supporters say pander to a Messi-friendly crowd.
Messi has repeatedly criticized Galren’s absence. And voters have taken notice.
“We heard Massey speak. And the other guy, honest and true, never showed anything,” Newport Republican Kerry Cade said after the Campbell County GOP forum. “I can’t even remember his name,” he said of Galren, adding that he’s leaning toward Macy’s because of that.
Galren’s team declined to make him available for an interview. But he argued that the choice between the two candidates is already clear — Galren is with Trump, Massey is not — and said the veteran “has been actively campaigning across the district for months.”
“If the question is about communication with voters, it appears it is Thomas Massey who has a problem because they are about to kick him out of Congress,” Galren spokeswoman Alexandra Wilkes said in a statement.
Trump’s shadow on race is inevitable. But Massie believes it’s not a binary choice between him and the president, largely because Trump himself is not on the ballot.
Polling appears to support his argument: A Quantas Insights Survey A poll in early April showed Massey with a nine-point lead, finding that half of likely voters wanted an independent-minded representative, while 37 percent said they preferred a strong Trump supporter.
But for some people the President’s support is enough.
Sipping beer and deviled eggs at a brewpub near Main Street in rural Alexandria, Republican Kevin Carmack was insisting he would not vote for Massey. But Galren was also giving him pause. Didn’t he leave the party?
Yes, Galren had. He changed your voter registration From Republican to Independent in May 2016, when Trump clinched the GOP nomination for the first time. He returned to the party in June 2021, according to county clerk records reviewed by POLITICO. This is one of Massie’s top attack lines – that his opponent is a true GOP turncoat.
But Trump gave Galerin a pass When the two rallied together in Hebron in March, he was praised for his choice to return to the party. Carmack nodded when he learned of Trump’s pardon.
“Then I would support Ed,” he said, “if Trump supported him.”
Daniel DesRochers contributed to this report.
