Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) filed paperwork Monday to run for federal office in 2028, less than a week after losing his House seat to a Trump-endorsed challenger in the most expensive Republican House primary ever recorded.
Massie announced the filing on social media but left the specifics open. “I haven’t made a final decision about which office to seek, if I run,” he wrote.
The Kentucky Republican fell to former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein on May 19. Massie received 45.1% of the vote to Gallrein’s 54.9%. Total spending in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District primary surpassed $32 million, shattering prior records. Pro-Israel interest groups drove much of that spending, mounting an aggressive independent campaign to remove Massie, who has been a persistent critic of U.S. military support for Israel.
Massie said the early paperwork allows him to raise money “to continue my political operations supporting my position as a current office holder and as a potential candidate for federal office.” He will remain in Congress through January 2027.
President Trump made Massie’s defeat a deliberate goal. The two have clashed publicly on multiple fronts. Massie voted against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump’s signature tax and spending legislation, citing national debt concerns. He backed a series of resolutions to limit the president’s war powers during the U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran. He also pushed legislation requiring the Department of Justice to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex trafficker, and voted in favor of measures restricting Pentagon lethal boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific.
Massie has represented Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District since 2012, making him one of the longest-serving GOP members who broke publicly with the MAGA coalition.
His loss carries implications beyond Kentucky. Republicans currently hold a slim House majority, and the 4th District primary fight became a test case for whether Trump can reshape the caucus ahead of critical legislative votes in the next Congress. Gallrein, a decorated Navy SEAL, is expected to win the general election in November and take the seat in January.
Whether Massie challenges Gallrein again in two years, runs for a Senate seat, or pursues another federal office is undetermined. The Monday filing preserves his fundraising infrastructure and keeps him legally positioned to raise political money while he decides.
