Trump Flexes Grip Over GOP With Massie’s Defeat in Kentucky (3)

Donald Trump’s hand-picked candidate for a congressional seat in Northern Kentucky, Ed Gallrein, defeated the president’s nemesis and longtime GOP House member Thomas Massie in one of the most expensive primaries on record.

With nearly all the votes counted, Gallrein had about 55% to Massie’s 45%, Decision Desk HQ reported.

Gallrein’s victory is the clearest sign yet of Trump’s grip over his Make America Great Again base in solid Republican states even as national surveys show the broader electorate souring on the president’s handling of the economy and war in Iran.

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Ed Gallrein in Hebron, Kentucky, in March.

Photographer: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

A former Navy SEAL and farmer, Gallrein, ...