Can Thomas Massie run as a write-in or independent candidate? What KY law says
Rep. Thomas Massie’s supporters aren’t ready to see him leave office just yet.
After Massie’s loss to Trump-endorsed candidate Ed Gallrein in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District GOP primary, some are throwing around ideas for how Massie could still be an option in November’s general election.
Christopher Hale, a former congressional Democratic candidate in Tennessee, said in a post on X that Massie should run a write-in campaign.
Another X user said Massie should run as an independent for a chance to “be on the debate stage and finally get to debate his opponent.”
And a post from the Libertarian Party of Minnesota called for Kentuckians to write his name for all elections where there is no Libertarian, Independent, or other third party candidate.
The race between Massie and Gallrein was the most expensive U.S. House primary in history, with more than $32 million spent as President Donald Trump targeted Massie due to a number of disagreements, including his refusal to support the war with Iran, his push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files and his opposition to the “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
Trump endorsed Gallrein, a Shelby County farmer and former Navy SEAL, in October 2025. Gallrein will now face Democratic candidate Melissa Strange in the November general election.
Still, Massie’s supporters were disappointed in the race’s outcome and hoping this year isn’t his last time representing the Northern Kentucky district.
But if Kentuckians in his district want a chance to send Massie back to Washington, D.C., it’s not going to happen in November.
Would write-in votes count for Massie?
While some are encouraging folks to write in Massie’s name, those votes would not count in the general election.
Kentucky has a “sore loser” law, which prohibits him from running in the general election for the same office that he lost in the primary election.
According to KRS 117.265, “any candidate who is defeated or disqualified in a partisan or nonpartisan primary shall be ineligible as a candidate for the same office in the regular election, unless there is a vacancy ...”
If a vacancy occurs in a nomination made by the primary because of “death or severe disabling condition which arose after the nomination,” and more than 10 days before the certification of candidates for the regular election, KRS 118.105 says “the governing authority of the party may provide for filling the vacancy” following certification.
Massie, however, could run as a write-in candidate for Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race. But those write-in votes would only be counted if Massie files a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate with the Secretary of State, according to KRS 117.265. The deadline to file as a write-in candidate is Aug. 24. Massie has not publicly expressed interest in going this route.
Could Massie run as an independent candidate?
No, Massie can’t run as an independent candidate for Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District.
Like with write-in campaigns, Kentucky election law bars candidates and their names from appearing on the general election ballot for the same office that they lost a primary in.
According to KRS 118.345, “no candidate who has been defeated or disqualified for the nomination for any office in a primary shall have his or her name placed on ballots in the succeeding regular election as a candidate for the same office for the nomination to which he or she was a candidate in the primary, except that if a vacancy occurs in the party nomination for which he or she was a candidate in the primary his or her name may be placed on the ballots for the regular election as a candidate of that party if he or she has been duly made such party nominee after the vacancy occurs as provided in KRS 118.105.”
Some have also pitched that Massie should run as an independent in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race, but Kentucky’s statute for running as an independent bars him from doing that, too.
KRS statute 118.315 says “no person whose registration status is as a registered member of a political party shall be eligible to election as an independent, or political organization, or political group candidate.”
Do these laws only apply to federal offices?
The law’s language applies to “any office in a primary,” which includes state House and Senate races.
That means even in close downballot races, where some incumbents narrowly lost their primary, those candidates will have to wait until the next election cycle if they want to a chance to win back their seat.
In the state House District 63 GOP primary, challenger Cole Cuzick defeated incumbent Rep. Kim Banta, R-Fort Mitchell, by 13 votes, according to unofficial results. Banta, who has represented the district since 2019, has already said she won’t seek a recount.
Under KRS 120.095, candidates in primary elections have 10 days after the race concludes to file a petition requesting a recount “with the same court that contest petitions are required to be filed with.”
That law is different compared Kentucky’s automatic recount law, which requires recounts in the general and special elections when the margin is “not more than one-half of one percent” in races for the Kentucky General Assembly, U.S House, U.S. Senate, governor and lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor and agriculture commissioner.
Candidates also have the opportunity to request a recanvass to the Secretary of State, which is a review of the vote totals, before 4 p.m. on the Tuesday following a primary election, according to KRS 117.305. However, a recanvass request will only be met if the winning margin is less than 1%.
Another close state legislature race was House District 44, where incumbent Rep. Beverly Chester-Burton, D-Shively, lost by five votes to Democratic challenger Kenya Wade. Chester-Burton previously served 10 days of home incarceration for a 2024 incident of driving under the influence.
And in the state House District 30 race, Democratic challenger Mitra Subedi unseated incumbent Rep. Daniel Grossberg, D-Louisville, who has been under scrutiny for almost two years for allegations of ethical misconduct and inappropriate behavior toward women.
