Trump announces his pick for KY congressional race against Thomas Massie
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Trump endorses Ed Gallrein to challenge Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky’s 4th.
- Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL and farmer, has not formally declared.
- Massie condemned the pick while MAGA KY and donors have spent over $1M to weaken him.
President Donald Trump has named a challenger to run against U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, who represents Kentucky’s 4h Congressional District, though Trump’s pick has not yet announced his candidacy.
In a post on Truth Social Friday night, Trump said he hopes Ed Gallrein, a farmer and former Navy SEAL who ran unsuccessfully for state Senate last year, will enter the race.
Trump called Massie a “totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly” while praising Gallrein as “a true America First Patriot.”
Gallrein issued a statement saying he plans to “make an announcement on what’s next soon!”
“I’m honored by President Trump’s support,” he wrote. “He is doing an amazing job securing the border, lowering taxes, and making America great again.”
Gallrein’s profile on the social media platform LinkedIn says he spent 30 years as a “Career Navy SEAL Officer with multiple combat/operational deployments.”
He now works as a leadership consultant and owns and operates Circle G Farm and Stables in Shelby County.
“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,” Massie responded in a statement. “Ed’s been begging them to pick him for over three months now.”
Trump has long been vocal about his hopes to unseat Massie, who has stood up to Trump on several issues, including urging the release of the Epstein files and opposing his Big Beautiful Bill.
Supported by several GOP billionaire donors, a political action committee called “MAGA KY” has spent more than $1 million on ads seeking to erode Massie’s popularity in Northern Kentucky.
Another name that had come up in discussion of Trump’s potential endorsement was state Sen. Aaron Reed, who also met with Trump about the possibility of entering the race, Politico reported last month.
In 2024, Gallrein requested a recanvas after a narrow loss to Reed in the Republican primary for Senate District 7, which includes Anderson, Henry, Shelby and part of Jefferson counties, last year.
The results stood, and Reed went on to win the general election last November.
Trump said Gallrein “knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Defend our Country, Support our Military/Veterans, and Ensure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”
The president added: “Additionally, as a very successful Businessman, Ed knows how to Create GREAT Jobs, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A., Support our Amazing Farmers and American Agriculture, Unleash American Energy Dominance, and Champion our Nation’s Golden Age. In Congress, he will fight tirelessly to Keep our now very Secure Border, SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment.”
Herald-Leader political writer Austin Horn contributed to this report.
