Inside the wild $25 million fight to oust top GOP Trump critic Thomas Massie
· Axios
The fight between Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and President Trump-backed rival Ed Gallrein is now the most expensive U.S. House primary in history — and it's one of the nastiest, too.
Why it matters: The race has turned into an all-out war of inflammatory accusations, savage insults and AI deepfakes.
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- One pro-Gallrein super PAC ad features an AI-generated Massie dining and holding hands with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), accusing him of being in a "throuple" and "cheating with 'The Squad' on the America First movement."
- Pro-Massie groups have attempted to brutally undermine Gallrein's MAGA credentials, labeling him "woke Eddie" and depicting the retired Navy SEAL in one AI-generated ad as a soldier abandoning Trump on a battlefield.
- Both candidates have attacked each other as being insufficiently conservative on a wide range of social issues, including diversity, equity and inclusion, transgender rights, Black Lives Matter, and immigration.
By the numbers: All of this is backed up by more than $25.6 million in ad spending, according to AdImpact, which makes the fight between Massie and Gallrein the most expensive U.S. House primary in history.
- The record was previously broken in the 2024 election cycle when AIPAC spent a whopping $14.5 million to unseat Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who was one of Congress' most vocal Israel critics, in a race that saw $25.2 million in overall ad spending.
- The Kentucky 4th district race could end up clearing that figure by a significant margin, with a week still to go until the May 19 primary.
State of play: Massie, a doctrinaire isolationist and one of the few Republicans willing to publicly criticize Israel, is facing a similar barrage from pro-Israel groups.
- The Republican Jewish Coalition has spent $4 million on ads supporting Gallrein, with AIPAC super PAC United Democracy Project spending another $2.6 million, according to AdImpact.
- Massie's increasingly public breaks with Trump have made him the target of Trump-aligned group MAGA KY, which has spent $5.6 million on top of $1.3 million from the Gallrein campaign itself.
- Massie, a prodigious fundraiser, has spent $5.6 million on ads from his own campaign, with the pro-Massie groups Kentucky 4th PAC and Kentucky First PAC dropping another $4.6 million and $920,000, respectively.
The intrigue: As if the tone of the race wasn't incendiary enough, a new ad goes so far as to portray pro-Gallrein donor Paul Singer, who is Jewish, with an unexplained rainbow star of David in the backdrop.
- The minute-long ad accuses Gallrein of being "bought and paid for by the LGBTQ mafia." Singer, a billionaire financier and GOP megadonor, is gay and has donated to LGBTQ+ rights causes.
- "If Gallrein wins, the weirdos take over," the ad says, with text describing Gallrein's values as "freak values."
- Massie's campaign did not respond to requests for comment on this story, nor did Singer or his hedge fund Elliott Management.
The details: The ad is being run by a group called Hold The Line PAC, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact.
- Hold The Line PAC previously spent in support of right-wing candidates Colton Moore in Georgia's 14th district and Jody Barrett in Tennessee's 7th district. Both lost special elections to more mainstream GOP rivals.
- Hold the Line PAC is spending $235,000 in TV ads supporting Massie and opposing Gallrein, and another $50,000 on campaign text messages, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
- Noel Fritsch, a conservative political consultant listed as the group's treasurer, did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Derrick Evans, a former West Virginia legislator and Jan. 6 rioter also associated with the PAC.
Zoom in: The group's website says it is "focused on Restoring Election Integrity & the Rule of Law" by lobbying Republican lawmakers to crack down on processes such as mail-in voting.
What they're saying: "Tom Massie's time as a politician is coming to a close and it's a shame to see him end his career this way," Gallrein advisor Tim Murtaugh said in a statement to Axios.
The bottom line: Overall Massie is somewhat outgunned, with $10.7 million supporting him to $14.3 million supporting Gallrein.
- It's likely going to be a close race, with local GOP officials telling NOTUS they think Massie is genuinely vulnerable despite his popularity in the northeastern Kentucky district.