Trump-backed nominees dominate primary contests as president tightens party vice grip

President Donald Trump was the biggest winner of Tuesday’s wide slate of primary elections as the president celebrated a large swath of his preferred candidates winning GOP primaries or advancing to runoff elections. 

In the most expensive primary in U.S. House history, a longtime thorn in Trump’s side, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., lost to former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein in Kentucky’s 4th District. Gallrein defeated Massie soundly with nearly 55% of the vote to Massie’s 45.1%, according to The Associated Press.

The defeat will mark the end to Massie’s congressional stint, a tenure which, toward its end, saw Massie increasingly opposing Trump and criticizing the president’s actions on trade deals, the Jeffrey Epstein files and the Iran war.

In his concession speech, Massie highlighted the influx of support his opponent received from pro-Israel groups like the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

"I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent to concede and it took a while to find him in Tel Aviv," he joked to his supporters Tuesday night.

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Pro-Israeli groups like AIPAC and the Republican Jewish Coalition, as well as other pro-Trump groups, poured millions of dollars into attack ads against Massie and support ads for Gallrein. With over $32 million spent on the race overall, the contest became the most expensive primary in House history.

Trump and surrogates, like Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, campaigned arduously against Massie in Kentucky and in national media, with Trump referring to Massie as the "Worst Republican Congressman in History" in one of many pre-primary attacks on Truth Social.

Gallrein, for his part, thanked Trump for his support and told supporters "the winner of the race tonight is not so much Ed Gallrein… but it’s the Republicans of Kentucky Congressional District 4 and their families, who I will be a champion for in Washington."

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Elsewhere in Kentucky, Trump-backed Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., won the GOP nomination for the state's Senate seat, vacated by Sen. Mitch McConnell’s decision not to run for re-election. Barr defeated former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron handily, winning over 60% of the vote, according to AP. He will face former Kentucky state Rep. Charles Booker, who won the Democratic Party’s nomination Tuesday. 

In Georgia, another Trump foe conceded defeat when the state’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger failed to advance in the GOP gubernatorial primary, falling behind Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and billionaire healthcare executive Rick Jackson, both of whom will advance to a June 16 runoff. 

Raffensperger drew Trump's ire in 2021 when he publicly contested claims Trump made that the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia were inaccurate.

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While Trump did not actively campaign against Raffensperger, he threw his support behind Jones, the race’s top vote-getter with over 38% of the vote, according to AP. Jackson finished with roughly 32.5%, compared to Raffensperger’s 15%, per AP. 

The winner of June’s runoff will face Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former mayor of Atlanta who earlier this month collected former President Joe Biden’s first political endorsement since leaving office. Bottoms defeated her Democratic opponents comfortably, collecting over 56% of the vote, per AP.

In the state’s Senate primary, a race in which Trump chose not to place his thumb on the scale, Rep. Mike Collins and former NFL coach Derek Dooley both advanced to the June 16 primary, both gaining more votes than Rep. Buddy Carter, who will not advance.

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Collins, a strong and vocal supporter of Trump’s, gained the most votes, pulling in over 40%, according to AP. Dooley, a former football coach who most recently coached at the University of Alabama, advanced with just over 30% of the vote. 

Speaking of Alabama and football, former Auburn University head football coach and current U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., secured his party’s nomination to become the next governor of Alabama. Tuberville, who was also backed by Trump, will face former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, who won his party’s nomination Tuesday. 

To replace Tuberville in the Senate, Trump-favored Rep. Barry Moore advanced in the GOP Senate primary with close to 40% of the vote, according to the AP.

Former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson and Alabama Secretary of State Steve Marshall are neck-and-neck competing for the second spot to see who will advance to the June runoff to compete against Moore. With an estimated 5,500 votes remaining to be counted as of this writing, Hudson leads Marshall with 123,531 votes compared to Marshall’s 118,228, according to the AP. 

Elsewhere in the country, Trump-backed candidates enjoyed victories in Idaho, as incumbents Gov. Brad Little and Sen. Jim Risch won their primaries. In Oregon, Trump-backed incumbent Rep. Clifford Bentz won his primary handily.

Outside of Trump’s sphere of influence, Pennsylvania Democrats celebrated primary victories for a trio of candidates backed by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro. Bob Harvie, Bob Brooks and Janelle Stelson all won their primaries and will advance to face GOP incumbents in districts the Democrats hope to flip in November. 

Fox News’ Sally Persons and The Associated Press contributed to this report.