Massie faces Gallrein as Kentucky primaries heat up

Massie faces – U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie battles Ed Gallrein for the GOP nomination in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, while primaries for U.S. Senate, five other U.S. House seats, the Kentucky General Assembly, and Louisville’s mayoral race are also on the ballot. Poll

Tuesday in Kentucky looks like a test of two different ideas about what the Republican Party should be. In one of the state’s biggest races, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie—one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal critics within the GOP—has to hold off a primary challenge that was launched with Trump’s urging.

Massie faces Ed Gallrein, a farmer and former Navy SEAL, as he seeks the GOP nomination for an 8th full term. Gallrein entered the race at Trump’s urging, and the matchup has become a clear part of the president’s broader push this primary season: to purge Republicans he perceives as disloyal.

The stakes are not limited to one district. Kentucky voters will also choose nominees for U.S. Senate, five other U.S. House seats and the state General Assembly. In Louisville. voters will winnow down a crowded field for mayor. with Mayor Craig Greenberg seeking a second term against 10 other candidates.

Massie’s position in Washington is what makes this primary stand out. He is described as a rare Republican who has clashed with Trump on key domestic and foreign policy initiatives. Massie opposed both Trump’s signature tax package and the war with Iran. He has also led in Congress in an effort to release the files of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Fundraising adds another layer to the race. Massie has a fundraising advantage, but Gallrein has remained competitive. The incumbent more than doubled his opponent’s spending over the course of the campaign. Still, the two began the month on comparable footing in terms of funds in the bank.

The 4th Congressional District runs along the Ohio River in northern Kentucky and shares borders with Indiana and Ohio. Trump received about 67% of the district vote in the 2024 general election, carrying all 21 counties with at least 59% of the vote. Massie ran unopposed in 2024 and received 65% of the vote in his 2022 reelection bid. While Massie carried every county in 2022, Trump outperformed him two years later in all but two counties.

That same tension—who can carry a Republican nomination in a party shaped by Trump’s influence—shows up across the rest of the ballot as well. In the U.S. Senate primaries. nearly 20 candidates are competing to succeed longtime GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. who is retiring after seven terms. Among the 11 candidates for the Republican nomination are U.S. Rep. Andy Barr. who has Trump’s endorsement. and former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron. a former McConnell aide who has criticized his ex-boss on the campaign trail. Seven candidates seek the Democratic nomination, including former state Rep. Charles Booker, military veteran and 2020 U.S. Senate nominee Amy McGrath, and state House Minority Leader Pamela Stevenson.

In Louisville, the mayoral contest is nonpartisan. Craig Greenberg is running for a second term against 10 other candidates. The top two vote-getters in the primary will advance to the general election.

Voting and results are set to move fast once polls close. Polls close at 6 p.m. local time—6 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET in Kentucky’s different time zones. Most polls in Eastern time close at 6 p.m. ET, while Central Time Zone polls close at 7 p.m. ET.

Kentucky also draws strict lines on who can vote in party primaries. Only voters registered with a political party may participate in that party’s primary. Democrats may not vote in the Republican primary or vice versa. Independent or unaffiliated voters may not participate in either primary.

The scale of the electorate is significant. As of April 24. there were about 3.4 million registered voters in Kentucky. including about 1.6 million registered Republicans and about 1.4 million registered Democrats. In the 2022 primaries for U.S. Senate, about 386,000 votes were cast in the Republican primary and about 292,000 were cast in the Democratic primary.

Early and absentee turnout has already started to show up in the totals. About 21% of the Democratic vote and about 17% of the Republican vote in the 2023 state primaries was cast before primary day. As of Wednesday, about 27,000 ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election—about 14,000 from Republicans and about 12,000 from Democrats.

Vote release practices vary by county. Results from early and absentee voting tend to be released from medium-to-large sized counties as part of the first vote update, usually before any in-person Election Day results are released.

As for how quickly winners might be declared, in the 2024 primary the AP first reported results at 6:06 p.m. ET—six minutes after polls closed in most of the state. The last vote update of the night was at 9:47 p.m. ET with more than 99.9% of total votes counted.

The Associated Press does not make projections. It will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called. AP will continue covering newsworthy developments such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. while making clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explaining why.

Recounts also matter if results tighten. Kentucky requires an automatic recount for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state General Assembly and nearly all statewide offices if the vote margin is 0.5% of the total vote or less. AP may declare a winner in a race subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Even with Tuesday’s focus, the broader political clock is running. As of Tuesday, there will be 168 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

Kentucky primaries Thomas Massie Ed Gallrein 4th Congressional District Louisville mayoral primary Craig Greenberg Mitch McConnell U.S. Senate primaries Andy Barr Daniel Cameron Charles Booker Amy McGrath Pamela Stevenson