Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) told a reporter outside the Capitol on Friday, “I’m walking to an airplane to rejoin the most expensive congressional race in U.S. history.”
The self-described “America only” congressman said his primary has “turned into a referendum on whether Israel gets to buy seats in Congress. And what they found out is that my seat is really expensive.”
His Trump-endorsed opponent, Ed Gallrein, has the backing of three pro-Israel billionaire backers: casino mogul Miriam Adelson, hedge fund manager Paul Singer and investor John Paulson. With the help of pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), they have now made this the most expensive primary election in American history, with total spending expected to be more than $25 million.
The Kentucky Republican has attracted the ire of Donald Trump more than once in recent years, whether from voting against his massive COVID spending bill in 2020, voting against foreign aid to Israel (he’s against all foreign aid), or opposing the war in Iran. Last year, libertarian Massie was one of only two House Republicans to vote against the president’s so-called "Big Beautiful Bill," which Massie said added to the national debt.
That vote was enough for Trump to declare that he just needed any “warm body” that he could endorse to dethrone Massie in a primary. That body, 67-year-old Gallrein, is a fifth-generation Kentucky farmer and a former Navy Seal. Gallrein has said he wants to bring back the military draft and has used apocalyptic language about what he sees as a “holy war” between the U.S. and Iran, similar to rhetoric used by Evangelical Christian leaders including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Despite an ongoing war in the Persian Gulf, Hegseth traveled to Kentucky to stump for Gallrein on Monday and delivered a vague speech about party unity without ever getting into policy. “President Trump does not need more people in Washington who are trying to make a point, especially from his own party,” Hegseth charged. “He needs people willing to help him win, to vote with him when it matters the most. And too often, Thomas Massie has acted like his job is to stand apart from the movement that President Trump leads instead of strengthening it.”
At no point did Hegseth invoke the America First spirit that Trump originally ran on and that Massie now claims to represent. It is largely unheard of that a U.S. Secretary of Defense would inject himself into a primary race of his own party, and in the middle of a war in the Middle East no less.
The Pentagon says Hegseth is campaigning against Massie in his own “personal capacity.”
As the voting opens in Kentucky today, polls are showing a neck-and-neck race with turnout for both candidates being key, thus Trump pulling out all the guns, even the defense secretary, to shift the tide against his nemisis.
But obviously this is far more than just two regular Republicans vying for a House gig. Perhaps even more than Trump’s personal vendetta against Massie, the usual establishment coalition of neoconservatives, Christian Evangelical Zionists and wealthy pro-Israel mega-donors have made this a referendum on the acceptable levels of the Israel lobby's influence in American politics and in American war policy.
Massie told a reporter that the forces against him were trying to send a message, and that message is “if you're a Republican, you better do whatever Israel wants. And I think it's gonna backfire on them.”
He added, “They're going all in, they've pushed all the chips in. Miriam Adelson’s probably spent more money on my race than she is spending on the ballroom (in reference to the White House ballroom renovation desired by Trump).”
“Well, AIPAC is kind of a proxy for the military-industrial complex,” he added.
On Friday, Massie announced he was introducing the “Americans Insist on Political Agent Clarity (AIPAC) Act,” that would require that organization to register as a foreign agent.
AIPAC and its singular national interest is also a test of the ideological parameters of today’s Republican Party. “Whether Massie wins will determine if there's any room in the GOP for someone who questions U.S. funding and devotion to Israel,” said independent journalist Glenn Greenwald. “Trump forced one out by calling her a traitor (Marjorie Taylor Greene). John Hostettler (R-IN) lost his primary to an AIPAC-funded opponent.”
Greenwald concluded, “Massie is the only one left.”
Coming fresh off the ground in Kentucky, New York Times reporter Jennifer Medina noted on Friday that “foreign policy rarely moves voters” but this race may be the exception.
“What’s different here is that Massie has made opposition to foreign aid and intervention one of his central positions,” she wrote. “And his opposition to the war has prompted a lot of anger from President Trump. It was fascinating to hear from many Massie supporters who view that as a sign of his strength and integrity.”
Medina added, “But even more than that, so many voters are furious about the way the war is driving up costs, especially for gas.”
The overriding dynamics in Massie's district appear more complicated and nuanced than merely the Trump loyalty test or even Gallrein’s big money backers and Israeli influence.
On March 7th, Massie posted on Facebook, “I’m saddened to hear that the seventh U.S. military casualty was a brave Kentuckian.” He was mourning the loss of 26-year-old Sgt. Benjamin Pennington of Elizabethtown, Kentucky who had been a star track runner at his high school. He had been killed in Operation Epic Fury.
“I think the biggest challenge is putting the trust in the people that are making the decisions,” said local Rebekah Osman, who attended a memorial service for Pennington, at the time. “It’s easy to stand at arm’s length and just say, ‘Yep, they know what they’re doing. This is what it’s supposed to be.’”
She added, “But then when this happens to somebody so close by, I think everybody has to stop and think about it all a little bit harder.”
Can Kentuckians trust that Washington is working in their best interest, or in the case of so many different lobbies in town, is it only serving those with more money, more influence? Tuesday’s race may not decisively answer that question but it is clear that this one issue, specifically AIPACs role in U.S. elections, has been thoroughly aired and vigorously debated in Kentucky's 4th District.
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