NEWPORT, Ky. — Less than a week after losing to challenger Ed Gallrein in the Republican primary, Thomas Massie has filed paperwork to campaign for his U.S. House seat again.
Massie filed a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on May 25, designating his principal campaign committee in the 2028 race to represent Kentucky's 4th Congressional District.
The longtime congressman lost to his Trump-backed opponent by over 10,000 votes, with the president saying afterwards that Massie "was a bad guy. He deserves to lose."
Trump's push against Massie turned the race into the most expensive House primary in U.S. history, as Axios reported total spending at around $32 million before Election Day. The multimillion-dollar inter-party fight resulted in even Kentucky's Democratic governor speaking in support of Massie.
"Thomas Massie and I don’t agree on much. But billionaires and special interest groups spent $35 million in Kentucky to unseat one conservative congressman — all because he stood up to Trump," Gov. Andy Beshear wrote on social media. "It’s everything that's wrong with our politics today."
Massie said after the race that despite the millions spent, his campaign was able to go toe-to-toe with Gallrein's in a race he joked "lasted longer than Vietnam."
"For 14 years, those SOBs in Washington tried to buy my vote. They couldn't buy it," Massie said in his concession speech. "Why did the race get so expensive? Because they decided to buy the seat — and it got real expensive for them."
Throughout his speech, supporters repeatedly chanted "2028" as Massie said they were "just getting started."
"You want me to run for Congress again?" he asked, as supporters chanted back, "President." He finished the speech, telling supporters, "We'll talk about it later."
