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Donald Trump’s latest win in Republican primaries came Tuesday when Kentucky voters ousted Rep. Thomas Massie in the state’s GOP House primary, reinforcing how much influence Trump’s endorsements hold over the party’s nomination contests. Massie had already become a repeated irritant for Trump within conservative politics, including on issues such as the push for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, opposition to the war with Iran, and votes against Trump’s signature tax legislation last year.
The Kentucky result followed the dynamics of Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein, who defeated Massie after a campaign that included substantial outside spending. The story circulated that the most expensive U.S. House primary in history helped set the stage for the matchup that ended Massie’s congressional tenure after beginning in 2012. Even as he lost, Massie remained in Congress until his term ends in January, with the absence of another Republican primary removing a key constraint on how he could handle the rest of his term.
More broadly, the Wednesday takeaways framed Massie’s loss as another sign that Republican primary voters have shown little room to break with Trump. The reporting pointed to other GOP outcomes from this primary season—such as Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana failing to reach a runoff on Saturday—along with earlier examples of Trump dislodging Republicans who voted against his redistricting plan. As covered by MSI previously, the party’s pattern of backing Trump-aligned contenders continued across states as well. MSI previously reported that Cassidy lost in Louisiana amid an impeachment-related rift.
Trump’s endorsement remained a central organizing force in Tuesday’s other race decisions. In Georgia’s governor fight for the Republican nomination, the reporting described an unexpectedly harsh battle between Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and billionaire Rick Jackson, with Jones supported by a $19 million campaign and Jackson placing more than $83 million of personal wealth into the race; Trump endorsed Jones, and the contest was set for a June 16 runoff. In the state’s Senate race, Trump stayed on the sidelines while a crowded field sought to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who faced no opponent within his party.
A separate track in Alabama involved primary procedures affected by state action and federal voting-law context. The reporting said more than 100,000 people cast ballots in four congressional districts that may not count because Republican Gov. Kay Ivey postponed the primaries until Aug. 11, relying on a legal environment shaped by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that hollowed out the Voting Rights Act. The secretary of state indicated that ballots cast Tuesday in the Alabama 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th congressional districts would be voided, with officials restoring earlier Republican-drawn district boundaries, even as litigation was underway that could determine whether the Tuesday primaries effectively decide party nominees. Voters were still selecting nominees as scheduled for Alabama’s 3rd, 4th, and 5th congressional districts, along with races for U.S. Senate and state and local offices.
On the Democratic side, Pennsylvania’s primary results reflected the political strength of Gov. Josh Shapiro in contests tied to his endorsements. Tuesday’s report said Shapiro endorsed four Democratic candidates for Congress—Paige Cognetti, Bob Brooks, Bob Harvie and Janelle Stelson—and all four won their party primaries, including three contested races. DePasquale, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party chairman, told an election night crowd that “no one” is more invested in flipping seats than Shapiro, as the party looks ahead to November in a swing-state context.
Georgia’s governor primary also delivered a cautionary message for Republicans who have pushed back against Trump’s election-fraud narrative. The reporting said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger ran as a Republican and former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan ran as a Democrat, and both lost decisively. Raffensperger’s campaign spent millions of his own money while seeking to reintroduce him to Republicans who viewed him as having broken with Trump, and Duncan’s campaign tried to persuade Democratic voters as well, after he had renounced earlier positions on abortion rights, gun control and Medicaid expansion.
Outside the electoral politics of candidate endorsements, economic policy votes also surfaced in the primary cycle. Oregon voters rejected a proposed 6-cent gas tax increase advanced by Democratic lawmakers, with the measure failing by large margins across counties. The report said Oregon legislative Democrats had voted for the tax increase and related fee hikes last year to fund road improvements and address a transportation budget gap, while Republicans launched a referendum campaign to put the issue before voters; the vote was also seen as landing when Americans already felt stretched by high gas prices attributed to the war in Iran. The takeaways section also said that Democratic messaging aligned with national strategy that seeks to channel voter anger over the cost of living to regain control of Congress, but the gas tax defeat ran contrary to that approach.
Other state-specific notes underscored how political life can intersect with demographic and succession dynamics. In Georgia, the report said the late Rep. David Scott, who was seeking a 13th term and died at age 80, appeared on the Democratic primary ballot but would not have counted votes. It said State Rep. Jasmine Clark won the Democratic nomination Tuesday night and was likely to win the general election in a district that tilts heavily Democratic, while the story linked the death and replacement dynamics to growing restlessness among younger Democrats challenging older leadership in primaries.