President Trump's campaign to purge Republicans who cross him reached a new intensity Tuesday night when his endorsed candidate, Ed Gallrein, defeated Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky's 4th Congressional District GOP primary. The victory extends Trump's unbroken streak of punishing party members who defy his agenda.
Massie, a libertarian-leaning lawmaker who has repeatedly clashed with Trump over foreign policy, the president's tax bill, and the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, becomes the latest casualty of what the White House openly calls a retribution effort. Earlier this month, Trump-backed challengers ousted Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana and several Indiana state senators who resisted the president's redistricting push.
"Do not ever doubt President Trump and his political power," White House communications director Steven Cheung posted on X after the race was called. "F— around, find out."
The Kentucky contest became the most expensive House primary in history, according to AdImpact data. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the state Monday to campaign for Gallrein, while Trump called for Massie to be "thrown out of office." At the White House's Congressional Picnic Tuesday, Trump told reporters: "He was a bad guy. He deserves to lose."
Gallrein, a retired Navy SEAL and farmer, is now all but assured to win the deep-red seat in November, replacing Massie after 14 years in office. The district stretches east from suburban Louisville along the Ohio River.
Other Trump-backed candidates also fared well Tuesday. Rep. Andy Barr won the GOP primary for retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell's Kentucky Senate seat, defeating former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron. In Georgia, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones advanced to a June 16 runoff for governor against billionaire health care executive Rick Jackson, who also aligned himself with Trump. Rep. Mike Collins placed first in the Georgia Senate GOP primary, setting up a runoff with former college football coach Derek Dooley, backed by Gov. Brian Kemp. This race has become a proxy fight between Trump and Kemp, as detailed in our coverage of the Collins and Dooley runoff.
In Alabama, Trump endorsee Rep. Barry Moore made the GOP runoff to succeed Sen. Tommy Tuberville, though the second-place finisher remained undecided early Wednesday.
The next major test of Trump's influence comes in Texas, where Attorney General Ken Paxton, endorsed by Trump on Tuesday, faces Sen. John Cornyn in a bitter primary runoff. Trump called Cornyn "a good man" but accused him of being "not supportive of me when times were tough." The endorsement has split the Texas GOP and alarmed Senate leadership, as we reported earlier.
On the Democratic side, Georgia saw strong turnout, with 49 percent of Election Day voters casting Democratic ballots versus 48 percent Republican, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Democratic gubernatorial primary outright, setting up a high-stakes general election. The strong turnout signals Democratic enthusiasm heading into November.
Tuesday's primaries in Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Idaho, Pennsylvania, and Oregon began solidifying key matchups for control of Congress and statehouses. The results underscore Trump's enduring grip on the GOP base and his willingness to wield it against any Republican who dares defy him.
