Massie and AmashI don't think I agree with Thomas Massie (R-KY) on almost any fundamental issues. But, unlike virtually all of his Republican colleagues, I recognize that Massie is a principled guy, who acts on his conservative values rather than on the transactionalism that underlies most members of Congress' voting records. A libertarian Republican, he should have packed up and left the Republican Party when his buddy, Justin Amash did. But he didn't; he stayed on the represent the 20 counties in northeast Kentucky-- including the suburbs south of Cincinnati-- that make up the blood red (PVI is R+18) 4th district. This isn't a district that's starting to see the light like most other suburban districts from Georgia through Texas to Orange County, California; it's a district that's actually getting worse:
• Obama, 2008- 37.0%• Obama, 2012- 34.8%• Hillary, 2016- 29.3%
In 2016, though, Massie outpolled Trumpanzee. 71.3% of the voters cast their ballots for Massie but just 65.2% went for Trump. In 2018, Massie's share of the vote shrunk, marginally, to 62.2%, not really enough to attract the DCCC. There are two Democrats struggling to win the primary-- Alexandria Owensby and Shannon Fabert who both appear to be centrists-- but the real headlines are all about the June 23rd Republican primary challenge Massie is facing from far right sociopath Todd McMurtry. Massie's libertarian convictions sometime clash with Republican dogma. McMurtry is the kind of guy who follows along with whomever is wielding the right-wing whip. It didn't look like a serious contest-- until Massie opposed the CARES Act in late March, causing Trump to denounce him and incumbent Republicans, who were forced back to plague-ridden Washington-- to flip out. Trump said Massie should be kicked out of the GOP and tweeted that he's a "third rate grandstander." Aside from Amash, a handful of libertarian-leaning Republican defended him publicly-- Chip Roy and Paul Gosar being two standouts. But they were in the minority.Liz Cheney (R-WY), a member of the GOP leadership, and Mike Turner (R-OH) were both so infuriated-- that they had to come back to DC-- that they each contributed to McMurtry's campaign before they realized that he's a KKK sympathizer (if not an actual member). A few Republican members denounced Cheney and Turner for coddling the racist and both Cheney and Turner asked McMurtry to return their campaign contributions.As of December 31, Massie had raised $803,738 and McMurtry had raised a competitive $320,797. (Neither of the Democrats had hit even $30,000.) The two Republicans released negative, dueling Trump-asskissing ads. This is McMurtry's:And here's Massie's:
