GOP maverick Thomas Massie falls to Donald Trump's purge: takeaways – USA Today
President Donald Trump catapulted his least favorite House Republican ‒ Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie ‒ out of office in another successful Make America Great Again purge ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Political newcomer Ed Gallrein, a farmer and former Navy SEAL, is projected to be the GOP nominee in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, according to NBC News and Reuters.
The must-watch Bluegrass State battle generated significant national attention largely because of how much energy Trump and his allies put toward ousting Massie, who has criticized Trump for increasing the budget deficit, starting a war in Iran and failing to release the Department of Justice’s files on Jeffrey Epstein.
Voters from across the country were also casting ballots in other critical races that will further shape the fall map, including competitive swing districts in Pennsylvania and an open seat for governor in battleground Georgia. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger ‒ another Republican who also didn’t always go along with Trump ‒ fell short in the Georgia GOP gubernatorial primary, while Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones will advance to a runoff with billionaire Rick Jackson.
Trump also made headlines by stirring up the runoff for the Republican Texas Senate nomination by endorsing state Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, a decision that will sharply divide the GOP in the Lone Star State and Washington.
Here are the key takeaways:
In primary after primary this year, Trump has asserted that dissidents have no place in the Republican Party, and that point was emphatically made leading up to the May 19 contest.
On May 16, Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow defeated Sen. Bill Cassidy in the Louisiana Republican primary. Cassidy earned Trump’s ire by voting to convict the president in his second impeachment trial, for causing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
But this contest became a bruising and personal primary that centered on fealty to Trump versus Massie’s well-known independent streak.
The president verbally pummeled the libertarian-leaning incumbent for months, calling Massie the “worst Republican congressman in the history of the country” at a tele-rally on May 18.
Other top administration officials, such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, joined the campaign trail in support of Gallrein, who skipped out on debates while pledging to support the president’s agenda if elected.
A massive amount of money poured into the campaign, mostly from Trump-aligned groups, making it the most expensive House primary in U.S. history, with more than $30 million put toward advertising. Chief among them is MAGA KY, which spent nearly $2.3 million on ads ripping Massie, with close to $500,000 more going to pro-Gallrein commercials.
Chris LaCivita, a close Trump adviser who ran the group, tagged Massie in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, moments after the race. The message featured a picture of the president using the middle finger.
“Republicans want a Republican representative ‒ they want lower taxes ‒ they want the border controlled ‒ they want less regulation and they want to know that someone represents their views,” LaCivita said in a May 19 post on X.
“Massie failed Republicans on all counts and tonight their voice was heard!”
Trump celebrated the victory on Truth Social as Gallrein now moves forward in a district where voters have not sent a Democrat to U.S. Congress since 2005.
Another Trump foe, Georgia’s Raffensperger, fell short in his pursuit to be the GOP nominee for governor. Raffensperger raked in around 14% of the vote.
Trump famously pressured Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to flip the Peach State into his column in 2020, during his failed attempt to overturn his election loss. Raffensperger refused.
The bulk of Georgia Republicans went for Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who was endorsed by Trump, according to preliminary results. Jones carried about 37% versus Rick Jackson, a billionaire health care executive, who tallied at roughly 34%.
Because neither man reached the needed 51% threshold, there will be a runoff.
Democrats overwhelmingly chose former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to be their nominee over a wide array of contenders. She won with about 60% of the primary vote after being endorsed by former President Joe Biden, which could turn the governor’s race into a presidential proxy war of sorts.
While millions of voters were making their choice, Trump decided to use the election to stir up an upcoming contest in Texas that could divide Republicans further.
The president ended months of speculation and endorsed Paxton over incumbent Cornyn, calling Paxton a “true MAGA Warrior” who has delivered for the state.
“John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough,” Trump said in his post, accusing Cornyn of being “very late in backing me” during the 2024 Republican primary.
It is a choice that will please much of Trump’s base, but it is being met with concerns from Senate Republicans, who fear it will give Democratic nominee James Talarico a pathway to victory. Paxton was impeached in 2023 by the Republican-led state House over allegations that he used his office to benefit a real estate developer who allegedly employed a woman with whom Paxton had an affair. He was acquitted.
“Sen. Cornyn is a principled conservative. He is a very effective senator,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, said. “None of us control what the president does. He made his decision about that. That doesn’t change the way I feel.”
The Trump administration’s success at booting dissidents out of the GOP is unquestionable, but it may have some negative consequences that could immediately backfire in Washington.
That’s because many retiring or defeated incumbents remain in Congress and will now be free agents to disrupt the administration.
Take Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, of Louisiana, who lost his primary reelection on May 16 after Trump crusaded against him for months. He remains in the Senate and cast a deciding vote to advance a war powers resolution aimed at ending the ongoing conflict with Iran.
Up until now, Cassidy had opposed earlier versions of that measure. He said in a May 19 post on X that the White House has left lawmakers “in the dark” about Operation Epic Fury.
“In Louisiana, I’ve heard from people, including President Trump’s supporters, who are concerned about this war,” Cassidy said. “Until the administration provides clarity, no congressional authorization or extension can be justified.”
The main event in 2026 remains control of the U.S. House of Representatives, as demonstrated by the nation’s polarizing redistricting war started by Trump to protect the GOP majority.
That means battleground areas, such as Pennsylvania’s competitive 7th Congressional District, are must-win contests for Democrats and Republicans.
Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who is running unopposed and backed by Trump, flipped the district red two years ago when she beat Democrat Susan Wild by only 1 percentage point. It is a see-saw place in terms of presidential elections, too: Trump won by 3 percentage points in 2016; Biden won by less than one percentage point in 2020; and Trump won it by 3 percentage points again in 2024.
Democrat Bob Brooks, a firefighters union leader, emerged from the field of four in the primary after receiving support from a wide range in the party, including Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the seat as a toss-up, along with more than a dozen other districts that could determine control of Congress and the fate of Trump’s presidency.
Contributing: Joey Garrison, Zach Schermele
