Trump-Backed Challenger Defeats Massie in Kentucky Primary

Congressman Thomas Massie, one of the most vocal Republican critics of Donald Trump, lost his bid for re-election Tuesday to a challenger endorsed by the president.

Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL, will face the Democratic nominee in November after winning the Republican primary in Kentucky's 4th District. The contest was the most expensive House primary in U.S. history and had been viewed as a test of Trump's influence over the Republican Party.

Trump repeatedly urged voters to support Gallrein over Massie, whom he called a "major sleazebag" and "the worst Republican congressman in history." Massie, who has served since 2012, broke with Trump by voting against his tax and spending legislation last year over concerns about the national debt. He also voted to limit Trump's strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and his military actions in Iran.

Massie joined Democrats and a handful of Republicans to push the Justice Department to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein. On Monday, Trump criticized Massie on social media as "an obstructionist and a fool."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth campaigned for Gallrein in Kentucky and accused Massie of "constant obstruction." Massie told CBS News that Hegseth's visit showed the Trump campaign was worried. "You don't send the Secretary of War to Kentucky during a war if you think your candidate is up 10 points," he said.

Massie said he voted with Trump 90 percent of the time but added that the president and his allies want full compliance. "It's only the 10 percent of the time they're mad about — when I won't vote for a war, when I won't vote for warrantless spying and when I won't vote to bankrupt the country," he said.

In a separate race, Congressman Andy Barr won the Republican nomination to succeed retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has served in the Senate for more than 40 years. Trump endorsed Barr, and his victory followed the president's offer of an ambassadorship to Barr's main challenger. Trump has used his endorsements to help defeat other Republican incumbents who opposed him in the past.