With seven months remaining for him to create holy Hell on Capitol Hill, on subjects ranging from the Epstein Papers to the construction costs of the hideous barn being built attached to the White House they’re calling a ballroom, Rep. Thomas Massie is in no rush to hit the unemployment line.
Despite losing by a larger than anticipated 10 points in his GOP primary re-election bid against a nobody named Ed Gallrein — a stooge snatched from obscurity by President-cum-Dictator Donald J. Trump to punish him for his independent ways — Massie remained defiant on Election Night, hinting that his political prospects haven’t crashed.
With supporters shouting “2028’’ and “President,’’ urging him to carry his libertarian-soaked views to a larger stage, Massie stood behind the podium at what he hoped would be a victory celebration and didn’t disappoint.
“You’ve made a compelling argument,” he told those urging him to aim higher. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Shortly thereafter he put the process in motion, informing the Federal Election Commission that he intended to become a candidate for the 4th Congressional District seat, the one he just lost, two years hence. In so doing, Massie said, “this allows me to raise funds to continue my political operations supporting my position as a current office holder and as a potential candidate for federal office.’’
And he added, provocatively, “I haven’t made a final decision about which office to seek, if I run.’’
Now, whatever you might think about 55-year-old Thomas Harold Massie, saint or sinner, and there are arguments to be made on both sides, he doesn’t have any great need to run for public office again. He’s newly married after suffering the tragedy of his first wife’s death. He’s an accomplished engineer with patents that will keep him in raw milk for the foreseeable future. A guy who managed to haul in plenty of cash when he sold the company he and his wife founded, SensAble Technologies, in 2012. And he resides in a rather nice, energy efficient hacienda somewhere in Lewis County where he can strum a banjo to his heart’s content.
But after coming up on the wrong side of a $22 million, or thereabouts, spending spree staged by Trump and his cohorts, including the pro-Israel lobby that disapproved of his opposition to dispatching billions of Yankee dollars Netanyahu’s way, Massie is already looking for a return to the arena.
The question is, which door will he open? There’s a potential rematch against the stooge, a Senate seat if Sen. Rand Paul, R-Bowling Green, seeks other pastures, the presidency, the top choice, it seems of his ravenous, nationwide supporters, and next year, if he so chooses, the governorship of Kentucky.
The most beguiling possibility, of course, and by far the biggest longshot, is the White House. It would be a curious choice and he would have to take a long run around Robin Hood’s barn to make it possible.
Blocking any entry into the White House sweepstakes, ironically, is Paul, a friend and close libertarian ally who himself is considering a presidential run.
I wrote in this column on May 2, 2025, that Paul was gearing up for a second presidential campaign (forgive the obvious and embarrassing self-promotion. I was the first to lay this out, others have followed and my ego is just big enough to call attention to it). During an appearance on CBS Sunday Morning back in late March, Paul acknowledged, “We’re thinking about it, and I would say 50-50’’ as to the chances. He added a decision will be made some time after the November elections.
It’s hard to imagine Massie entering a campaign with the potential for undermining detracting from the prospects of his friend and philosophical soulmate. If Paul folds his cards early, always a possibility, or skips the opportunity altogether, Massie could charge ahead based on the libertarian principles of limited government, free markets and avoidance of foreign entanglements.
If Paul runs a full campaign yet fails to gain the Republican presidential nomination, a good bet, Massie could still have an outlet for his aspirations – the Libertarian Party.
That route would likely be for show. As the minor party’s president by advancing. As the Libertarian presidential hopeful Massie could conceivably advance the party’s principles without the pressure of a winning campaign. The party’s 2024 presidential candidate, Chase Oliver, of Georgia, finished fifth in the popular vote, drawing 650,126 votes, or 0.4 percent of the total. The party’s high-water mark came in 2016 when the former Democratic governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson, teamed with former Republican governor of Massachusetts, Bill Weld, to attract 4,489,341 votes, good for 3.28 percent.
Massie could probably get the nod for the asking. But would it be worth the effort?
The case for making a Senate race in 2028 isn’t much better. The seat is currently held by Paul, who has maintained it since 2011. He has exhibited no interest in stepping aside, even if he runs for president simultaneously, and Massie will not primary him.
In 2016, Paul sought the Republican presidential nomination, the same year his first six-year term in the upper chamber expired. Initially, he was faced with the choice of running for president or re-election. But the Republican-controlled Kentucky General Assembly rode to his rescue, changing the law to permit him to seek both offices simultaneously.
Paul, after a strong early campaign eventually dropped out of the 2016 presidential campaign, having succumbed to a juggernaut named Trump. He easily won re-election to the Senate. Now he’s faced with the prospect of running for both offices at the same time again if that’s what he chooses to do, leaving his buddy Massie on the sidelines. If Paul decides to go all in a running for president and abandons re-election, Massie would have a shot without facing the Trump distraction for a second time since the Lord of Mar-a-Lago would be on a glidepath out of office.
As to the governorship, Massie has issued mixed signals, although he has expressed some interest in the office in the past. During a candidate forum at the University of Louisville in April, he was asked if he would run for governor if he lost his congressional primary.
According to The Louisville Cardinal, the school’s campus newspaper, “He said a loss would mean returning to the farm, but he might consider running for governor over the Senate or presidency if he won.’’
“I’ve got to get to May 19 before I speculate about any of that,’’ he said. “But if I’m looking at jobs and saying which would be the best job to have, probably governor.’’
The race has, as you might have guessed, drawn a lot of interest. Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, is term limited and is, like Paul, thinking about running for president. Several Republicans, including Rep. Jamie Comer, R-TheFrankfortLoop, Secretary of State Michael Adams, state Auditor Allison Ball and a raft of others. Should he decide to seek the nomination, Massie wouldn’t have a lot of time to sit around his farm – the primary is less than a year away.
He could be left with another run at Congress, which would be no sure thing since he’s already lost to a nothingburger, although the nothingburger won with the backing of the sociopath in the White House and a $20 million bankroll, resulting in the most expensive congressional primary race in the nation’s history – all in a stretch along the Ohio River in mostly rural Kentucky.