Ed Gallrein defeats Thomas Massie in contentious Kentucky 4th District House primary race

Former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein has won the Republican primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District over Rep. Thomas Massie.

Former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein has won the Republican primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District over Rep. Thomas Massie, NBC News projects, notching another win for President Donald Trump in his push to eliminate political rivals and roadblocks within his own party.

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Gallrein beat Massie in the most explosive fight of Trump’s political pressure campaign, which wended its way from Indiana and Louisiana to Kentucky this month, all featuring primary challengers he endorsed. Gallrein was aided by an extraordinary advertising blitz fueled largely by pro-Trump and pro-Israel groups.

Massie, first elected to the House in 2012, had become an ever-present thorn in Trump’s side. Trump traveled to the district in March to throw his political weight behind Gallrein and slammed Massie as a “disaster.”