LOUISVILLE — U.S. Rep. Andy Barr endorsed a candidate challenging a fellow Kentucky Republican, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, sparking an endorsement battle ahead of the state’s May primaries.
On Thursday, Barr, who is running for U.S. Senate, endorsed Ed Gallrein, who President Donald Trump has backed in the 4th Congressional District race in the northern part of the state. The president announced he was backing the Shelbyville Republican last fall after vowing for months to oust Massie from Congress.
Speaking with reporters after a Louisville stop Friday morning, Barr denied that the president had asked for the endorsement of Gallrein. He added that it was “a decision I made on my own.” Barr said he knew Gallrein before he launched his campaign and believes Gallerin “will not only be a strong advocate for President Trump, and work with me shoulder to shoulder with President Trump, but also that he will be a team player who will focus on voting with Republicans to advance President Trump’s agenda.”
“We have a thin majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. This is my last term in the U.S. House of Representatives, but I care about having a functional majority,” Barr said. He added that House Republicans should vote with Trump “as opposed to collaborating with Democrats.”
Massie has become a thorn in the president’s side on several issues, including pushing for the release of the federal investigative files regarding the late sex offender and former financier Jeffery Epstein.
Barr represents the 6th Congressional District in central Kentucky. Over the past year, Barr has highlighted his support of Trump’s agenda in Congress, such as voting for the GOP’s megabill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Massie voted against that measure, too.
Barr said “this is not personal with me and Thomas” before he likened the situation to one many Kentuckians would be familiar with — a play by the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team. The Wildcats, led by head coach Mark Pope, will face the Tennessee Volunteers Saturday night.
“If he (Pope) calls a play and our point guard is upset, because that play that he called is not him with the basketball shooting the basket, the answer is not to go down to the other end of the court and score for Tennessee,” Barr said. “The answer is to support the team. Ed Gallrein will support the team.”
Barr and Gallrein will have campaign stops together in the 4th Congressional District Friday.
This year, a Kentucky U.S. Senate seat will be open for the first time since 1984 as longtime U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who led Republicans in the Senate as a majority and minority leader for nearly two decades, is not seeking reelection.
Since they launched their campaigns last year, Barr and other leading GOP candidates, businessman Nate Morris and former Attorney General Daniel Cameron, have tried to position themselves closer to the president and create distance from McConnell, who has received low approval ratings with Kentucky voters and often has a fraught relationship with Trump.
After news broke about Barr’s endorsement of Gallrein, Morris’ campaign told the Lexington Herald-Leader he was also endorsing Gallrein.
“Those guys endorsing Woke Eddie isn’t about my race. It’s about their campaigns,” Massie said in a statement to the Lantern Friday.
Several Liberty Republicans, who are often seen as Massie’s lieutenants in the state legislature, rallied behind the congressman and blasted those endorsing Gallrein on X Thursday evening. A few of them have also recently endorsed Cameron in the U.S. Senate race.
State Rep. Savannah Maddox, a Dry Ridge Republican who was among those endorsing Cameron last week, said online it was “OUTRAGEOUS that two of our Republican Senate candidates have endorsed against” Massie in the primary.
“Do not be fooled by candidates who claim to support Trump but turn around and endorse someone who has been fighting for the America First agenda from Day 1,” she said.
An independent poll released Thursday morning showed Barr with a slight lead in the GOP primary, though a significant portion of voters surveyed were still undecided. A second poll later in the day somewhat backed up the candidates’ positions in the race.
Though Trump has not made an endorsement in the U.S. Senate race, Barr said he believes the president will eventually.
“Ultimately, I think President Trump recognizes all the things that Kentucky voters are starting to recognize in these polls is that I’m not just talking about it, I’m doing it and supporting him every day,” Barr said.
Trump has won Kentucky’s electoral votes in every presidential election he’s been on the ballot.
Kentucky’s primary election is May 19.
This article appears in Jan 1-31, 2026.