Republican Rep. Thomas Massie will lose his reelection bid to Ed Gallrein, who was backed by President Donald Trump, in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, ABC News projects.
A conservative libertarian, Massie has been the subject of Trump’s ire, given his push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, his vote against the president’s sweeping domestic tax policy legislation and his vocal opposition to the Iran war.
Rep. Thomas Massie in Washington Sept. 17, 2025 and Republican congressional candidate for Kentucky, Ed Gallrein in Covington, Ky., April 30, 2026.
AP
The race is the most expensive House primary in history: $32.6 million was spent in advertising and ad reservations, according to AdImpact.
Rep. Andy Barr in Fancy Farm, Ky., Aug. 2, 2025 and Kentucky U.S. Senate candidate Daniel Cameron in Louisville, May 12, 2026.
AP/Getty Images
On the Senate side, ABC News projects that Trump-backed Rep. Andy Barr will win the Republican primary as voters weighed in on who will succeed Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, the former Senate majority leader and the state’s longest-serving senator who is retiring after more than 40 years in Congress.
Barr was facing former attorney general and former gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron.
Both candidates have past ties to McConnell, though they have made clear attempts to distance themselves from the senator, who represents establishment Republicanism.
Trump waded into the race earlier this month, asking businessman Nate Morris to step aside and take a role in the administration and backing Barr. Morris’ name remained on the ballot, but his votes will not be counted, according to the Kentucky Secretary of State.
The Kentucky State Capitol Building in Frankfort, Kentucky.
STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
State significance
Kentucky has sided with Trump for the past three presidential elections, with Trump winning the state by 30 points in 2024.
The predominantly red state is led by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who was first elected in 2019 and reelected in 2023. But Kentucky has not seen a Democratic senator since Wendell Ford, who served from 1974 to 1999.
