JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Polls are now closed in Kentucky where Republican Congressman Thomas Massie is facing the toughest challenge of his political career as President Trump throws all of his weight behind his primary challenger, Ed Gallrein.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Kentucky Public Radio's Sylvia Goodman has been following this Northern Kentucky U.S. House primary joins us now. Hey, Sylvia.
SYLVIA GOODMAN, BYLINE: Hey. Glad to be here.
DETROW: Congressman Massie has made a lot of headlines in recent months, a lot of them for criticizing President Trump. Tell us more about how he has drawn so much attention.
GOODMAN: Yeah. Massie makes no bones about voting against his party at times. He wears his signature debt clock on his lapel. He basically wears that everywhere, and he votes that way. He was one of the two House GOP no votes on the One Big, Beautiful Bill because of the trillions it's projected to add to the debt. He's pushed back against the president's military operations in both Venezuela and Iran. And perhaps most notably, he was the lead Republican forcing Trump's hand in releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files. And all of that put together has not made the president happy with Massie.
DETROW: Even as President Trump's approval ratings have dropped, we have seen a lot of evidence in recent weeks about how powerful he is within the Republican Party. A lot of Republican Trump critics have lost their primaries. Most recently this past weekend in Louisiana, with Senator Bill Cassidy who voted to convict Trump in 2021 in the impeachment trial. He lost. So could Massie be next?
GOODMAN: I think this race will be unquestionably Massie's closest primary challenge since he first won the seat. But that is to say, this district is still very different. These candidates are very different than Cassidy's race. Massie is certainly no moderate, like Cassidy is, and Northern Kentucky is a very unique district, with an interesting kind of strong liberty, libertarian faction going on.
So Massie told me that his colleagues on Capitol Hill are watching this race as closely as the American people are. He says that other congressmen tell him they would vote with him more often, but they can't afford to take that risk all the time. Massie thinks if he comes out of this primary with his party's nomination, they might think differently.
THOMAS MASSIE: If they see that you don't die on the Hill when you stand for what you campaigned on, even when the president deviates from that, I think there'll be more of them empowered to do the same.
GOODMAN: And really, that's what this race boils down to, in a lot of ways. Do voters want an unwavering Trump champion or someone who's willing to make decisions independent of the party?
DETROW: Tell us more about Ed Gallrein, Massie's opponent.
GOODMAN: So when Trump came to Kentucky in March to campaign for Gallrein, he literally said he was just looking for a, quote, "warm body" to take on Massie. But he said that Gallrein was straight out of central casting - that's his words - a retired Navy Seal officer. He grew up in a farming family. And Gallrein, for his part, basically says he supports Trump unequivocally.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ED GALLREIN: Today, more than ever, we need leadership and teamwork 'cause united we stand, divided we fall.
GOODMAN: And to that point, he's attacked Massie for not voting on Trump's priority legislation in favor of it and not voting with the party. He's accused him of voting for the left more so. Massie, for his part, says he votes with the party 90% of the time. It's the other 10% he's not willing to compromise on.
DETROW: Sylvia, real quick - just how much has been spent on this primary?
GOODMAN: The last number I saw from AdImpact had the advertising spend (ph) at almost $33 million. That would place it as the most expensive House primary ever. And let me tell you, voters are feeling that in the advertising they're seeing on the TV and in their mailboxes.
DETROW: That is Kentucky Public Radio's Sylvia Goodman in Louisville, Kentucky. Thank you so much.
GOODMAN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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