Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie raised more than $2.5 million in the first quarter of 2026, according to figures shared with the Daily Caller.
Of Massie’s 20,665 donors in the first quarter, approximately 76% were first-time contributors while 993 donors from Kentucky contributed a total of $190,399, including 401 from his 4th Congressional District, the figures showed. The first-quarter showing comes as Massie faces a competitive Republican primary on May 19 against former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, who has received backing from President Donald Trump. Massie has repeatedly clashed with Trump since the latter’s return to the White House in January 2025. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Massie Says GOP Risks Losing America First Base If Primary Challenge Succeeds)
Massie told the Caller on Friday his fundraising was driven “without a consultant or fee going to anybody,” saying his campaign relies on grassroots support. “The bad thing about being the number one target, there’s a lot of pressure on you. The good thing about being the number one target is that a lot of people have rallied to support me,” he said.
Grant County GOP put on a great Lincoln Day Dinner last night.
It was great to be among so many friends, including State Representative @SavannahLMaddox, in such a beautiful venue. pic.twitter.com/cb9gmSO4JR
— Thomas Massie for Congress (@MassieforKY) April 11, 2026
So far this cycle, Massie’s campaign has brought in a total of $4,932,036 from 32,809 total donors, including 1,545 Kentuckians who have contributed close to $312,000, according to figures shared with the Caller. The congressman emphasized that much of his first-quarter contributions came from small-dollar donors, with an average contribution of $94.
“Well, our average donation is under $100. These are people who have hope that things can be fixed, and they place their hope in me, and it’s a large burden on me. I need to win or else a lot of Americans are gonna lose hope,” he said, arguing that grassroots donors who “go to work every day” couldn’t be “bullied into not giving” to his campaign while big donors were vulnerable to pressure.
Come to a debate and let’s talk about it!
“85% of donors who contributed the maximum amount allowable to Gallrein’s campaign have a history of donating to Democratic candidates, a Daily Caller review of Federal Election Commission (FEC) records found.”https://t.co/WmrkJIlUhd
— Thomas Massie for Congress (@MassieforKY) April 13, 2026
Tensions between the congressman and Trump escalated after Massie voted “No” on the president’s landmark legislation the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” pushed legislation to release the Epstein files and opposed U.S. involvement in a war with Iran. Trump labeled Massie a “nut job” and “disloyal” while giving remarks in the representative’s district in early March, Axios reported.
Massie described his approach as firmly aligned with “America First” and argued the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement was breaking apart, telling the Caller that many voters felt “no longer welcome.” He said his opponent’s donors were not “America First.”
With the party increasingly split, Massie told the Caller he remains focused on preserving the GOP majority and the importance of coalition-building.
“Right now my own party seems to be shrinking the tent and I’ve told them this already and when I see them in Congress personally that if I lose they’re gonna, they’re gonna alienate a big portion of the, of the coalition that put us in the majority and put us in the White House,” he said.
Gallrein accused Massie in a X post Sunday of having a notable share of campaign contribution originating “from donors outside Kentucky, including individuals and organizations that have also supported Democratic candidates and causes.”
Massie challenged Gallrein to debate and cited a Caller report from March in response Monday. Eighty-five percent of donors who gave the maximum allowable amount to Gallrein’s campaign had a history of contributing to Democratic candidates, according to federal election filings cited by the report. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Democrat Donors Flood Cash To Trump-Backed Massie Challenger)
Massie was driving through rural Kentucky on his way to the Grant County GOP’s Lincoln Day Dinner when he spoke with the Caller, frequently dropping in and out of cell service. He claimed Gallrein did not show up to the dinner.
“My opponent turned down 5 debates so far. We’re traveling tonight to a county GOP event that was gonna allow each participant to take questions for 10 minutes, and he backed out of it. It wasn’t even a debate or really even a forum, just an opportunity for him and me to answer questions for 10 minutes from [the audience],” he told the Caller.
Tonight, when Ed found out guests @ Grant Co Lincoln Dinner would ask questions after our speeches, he sent a woman to read his for him!
6 forum/debates he’s 🐥’ed out of
❌Cunningham, 700 WLW
❌KY4 GOP, NKY TeaParty, NKYR
❌Spectrum News
❌Campbell Co GOP
❌LinkNKY
❌Grant GOP— Thomas Massie for Congress (@MassieforKY) April 11, 2026
Massie said his team will prioritize television advertising in their outreach efforts ahead of the primary, saying that they have recently taken the “upper hand” in that area while expanding mail efforts in targeted counties across Kentucky’s 4th District.
The additional funds have also allowed the campaign to broaden its voter outreach beyond reliable primary voters to “newly registered voters” and “people who’ve never voted,” he told the Caller. Massie added that the campaign has now gone on air in the Huntington-Charleston media market for the first time. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Massie Warns AIPAC, Trump’s War Against Him Could Backfire)
“We didn’t want him to be able to erode any support” in Massie’s home base, the congressman said.
With just 36 days until the primary, the race is shaping up as a test of how candidates define their role in Washington — an issue Massie addressed as he pushed back on critics and underscored his commitment to remaining an outspoken and active voice in Congress.
“I think people are hungry for somebody to speak up in Congress. Basically, Congress is inert right now, doing almost nothing, and probably will be doing nothing from now until November,” he said. “With the exception of me, I’ll be forcing votes and trying to make things happen — and, if nothing else, going out there and saying the things that need to be said that other people are afraid to say. Sometimes it gets me in hot water, but people are hungry for that.”
Gallrein entered the race against Massie in October 2025. “This district is Trump country. The President doesn’t need obstacles in Congress — he needs backup,” he said in a statement at the time obtained by Politico.
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