Israel and the most expensive congressional primary in US history

Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky has served continuously in the House of Representatives since first being elected in 2012. He has voted with his fellow Republicans 90 percent of the time while representing a reliably Republican constituency in which he won 76 percent of the vote in the 2024 Republican primary and had no opposition in the general election. Among other conservative bona fides, he has a 100 percent voting record in opposition to abortion on demand; a 94 percent voting score from the Club for Growth, a political organization that promotes free-market economics and reduced taxation; and a 92 percent score from the American Conservative Union.

His fellow Kentuckian, Sen. Rand Paul, says Massie is “the most faithful to the Constitution in the House, the most fiscally conservative."

It wasn’t enough to save him in Tuesday’s primary election for the Republican nomination and the opportunity to defend his seat against the Democrat challenger in the November general election. In what turned out to be the most expensive House primary in history, Massie had to contend with the wrath of President Donald Trump, who at one time praised him as an ally but who had lately called Massie "the worst congressman in the history of our country," a "moron," and "a totally ineffective loser.” 

Joining the abuse-fest was Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who journeyed to Kentucky (in what most likely was a violation of federal law restricting the partisan activities of officials in the executive branch of government) to praise Massie’s opponent as a “warrior” and to damn Massie as an “obstructionist.”

Massie’s contest with challenger Ed Gallrein, a Trump recruit, cost a combined $35 million, with $25 million of that going to digital and broadcast advertising. More than $20 million of the $35 million total came from “outside spending,” defined as expenditures from individuals and organizations not directly affiliated with a given candidate’s campaign.

Note that this was not a presidential race, not a Senate race, not in a “big” state like California or New York, and not even a general election. It was merely the selection of one party’s nominee for one of 435 House seats, in a state ranked twenty-sixth out of fifty in population and seldom at center stage in national politics. 

What on earth could cause this grotesque spectacle in a political system in which a Congressional incumbent in a safe district usually is virtually unbeatable and often runs unopposed in his or her party’s primary?

Yes, Massie had opposed Trump legislative priorities that he believed would lead to excessive federal spending, and Trump does not cope gracefully with rejection, but a crucial explanation for recent circumstances lies with Massie’s skepticism about foreign adventures, particularly the current war with Iran, and foreign aid, particularly aid to Israel. 

In 2021, Massie opposed funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system–and all other foreign aid, citing budgetary concerns. In 2023 he was the only member of Congress who voted against a resolution that equated anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. In 2024 he voted against a $14 billion aid package for Israel, citing costs of about $100 per employed person via inflation and taxes. He was the only Republican not to attend Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress in July 2024, and he has recommended that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most prominent and powerful Zionist lobbying organization in the country, be required to register as a foreign agent:

“If an organization is heavily engaged in influencing US policy in ways that principally benefit a foreign country, it should be required to register under [the Foreign Agents Registration Act].”

Massie said that the overwhelming preponderance of the funds spent in opposition to him came from an assortment of pro-Israel organizations and that Gallrein “wouldn’t even be out of the starting blocks if it weren’t for that money.” During a final spending spree last weekend, the Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund alone kicked in $470,000 in opposition to Massie. Most American Jews are Democrats, but the Republican ones do have a way with a checkbook, apparently.

“Their [the pro-Israel donors to Gallrein] position is more war, it’s more strife, it’s more bombs, it’s more foreign aid, and those are the things that I’ve been voting against,” Massie said.

Massie has also asserted that nearly every member of Congress receives regular contact from an AIPAC “babysitter” who attempts to exert pro-Israel influence on that legislator.

Gallrein declined to debate Massie, saying that there was no need. Money, after all, speaks eloquently and loudly, and it helped convince 55 percent of the voters to oust Massie in favor of a man who has pledged fealty to Trump’s agenda.

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado prominently supported Massie: “If this race can be bought, it will set a precedent for every other race for our entire country.” Trump, having endorsed Boebert four times, has taken to calling her “weak-minded” and calling for someone within the party to oppose her for reelection.

What no one is saying, irrespective of the Kentucky outcome and of any of Israel’s merits or demerits, is how outlandish, how nonsensical, it is that a preoccupation with some other country should loom so large in any American election and that it should hold the entire United States in its grip. An uncanny mania is at work here. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has not only said that Israel has the right to take over most of the Middle East, he has said that he feels about criticism of Israel the same way he feels about criticism of his wife. Quoth the Huckster, "America has many friends and allies, but only one partner.”

The US is in very real danger of no longer being a sovereign nation capable of unilateral action. Perhaps the Rubicon is already in the rear-view mirror. When other countries, be they friends or foes, deal with the US, are they dealing only with the US?

Traditionally, “America first” has meant people like Thomas Massie who eschew foreign entanglements, even to the point of isolationism. Now, astoundingly, Ed Gallrein says he is “fighting for Kentucky families and the America First agenda.” Obviously, a great many people now believe that the national interest and the Israeli interest are synonymous right down to the suburban household level. Perhaps the Israeli military should be allowed to conscript white suburban American youngsters in order that families might act on their convictions. 

The intensity and expense of the struggle in one otherwise obscure Congressional district should be the alarm summoning the nation, and perhaps the world, to an examination of the implications–while discussion is still permitted. Thomas Massie has been dispatched into oblivion, and he most likely will soon have lots of company as America continues what is increasingly a march under two flags.

Lot Hildegard is a freelance policy analyst and Christian theologian.