With an estimated 72 percent of the vote counted, Ed Gallrein led with 54.4 percent to Massie\u2019s 45.6 percent.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has tightened his grip on the Republican Party as Kentucky voters ousted one of the few conservative lawmakers willing to openly challenge his authority.<\/p>\n
Congressman Thomas Massie<\/a>\u2018s defeat, which was predicted by US news networks, including NBC and CNN, about two hours after polls closed on Tuesday, marks another victory in Trump\u2019s campaign to punish dissent within Republican ranks.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n With an estimated 72 percent of the vote counted, former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein led with 54.4 percent of the vote to Massie\u2019s 45.6 percent.<\/p>\n The Associated Press news agency called the race for Gallrein, whose campaign was backed by Trump\u2019s endorsement as well as millions of dollars from pro-Trump and pro-Israel political lobby groups.<\/p>\n The contest<\/a>, widely described as the most expensive<\/a> House of Representatives primary in US history, saw more than $32m spent on advertising and offered the latest evidence of Trump\u2019s hold over Republicans. It followed the primary defeat on Saturday of another Trump critic, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana<\/a>, as well as losses for dissenting Republican state lawmakers in Indiana earlier this month.<\/p>\n \u201cMassie got Trumped. Donald Trump is the sun and the moon and the stars in the Republican Party in Kentucky,\u201d Kentucky-based Republican strategist TJ Litafik said.<\/p>\n A test of Trump\u2019s influence<\/p>\n The Kentucky vote was closely watched as a test of whether Trump\u2019s hold on Republican voters remained firm despite concerns over his war on Iran, growing inflation and declining personal approval ratings, and whether there was still space in the party for lawmakers willing to break with him.<\/p>\n Massie had angered Trump by opposing US military action in Iran and Venezuela, criticising aid to Israel, resisting parts of the president\u2019s agenda, and backing efforts to release files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n The president spent months attacking Massie, a libertarian-leaning seven-term congressman, calling him a \u201cmoron\u201d, a \u201cnut job\u201d and a \u201cmajor sleazebag\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cDealing with him is just horrible. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s a Republican\u2026 He\u2019s not a libertarian,\u201d Trump told reporters after polls opened on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes they say he\u2019s really a Dumb-ocrat. He votes against us all the time,\u201d Trump said, using a nickname he frequently deploys against Democrats.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m not running against President Trump\u2019<\/p>\n In the northern Kentucky city of Covington, Rob Barkley, a former Trump supporter who backed Massie, said the president\u2019s attacks had pushed him further towards the congressman.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s on the Republican side, so he has a conservative mindset,\u201d Barkley told US media after casting his ballot.<\/p>\n \u201cBut he\u2019s not as far-right leaning as Trump\u2019s politics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Massie, who voted with Trump roughly 90 percent of the time during the president\u2019s second term, framed the contest as a broader test of independence within the Republican Party.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not running against President Trump. Most of the people voting for me support President Trump like I do,\u201d Massie said.<\/p>\n Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also made a rare appearance in Massie\u2019s district on Monday to campaign for Gallrein.<\/p>\n Federal law restricts government employees from engaging in partisan political activity while on duty, but Hegseth\u2019s office said he attended in a personal capacity and that no taxpayer money was used.<\/p>\n Trump later revealed that Hegseth\u2019s campaign appearance came just hours before the US had expected to launch a new military assault on Iran<\/a>, although the operation was later postponed.<\/p>\n