The Republican primary for northern Kentucky’s U.S. House district this May between incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie and Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein was by far the most expensive in congressional history — with $37 million spent by the campaigns and aligned super PACs.
New campaign finance filings with the Federal Election Commission this week reveal a clearer picture of how much the PACs spent — more than $25 million — and the identity of the wealthy business interests who filled their coffers to influence the race.
Massie lost the GOP primary by 10 percentage points, as he faced the wrath of President Donald Trump, who was displeased with Massie defying him on several issues, including Trump’s military strikes on Iran and his successful resolution to force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Trump campaign advisers created a PAC that spent more than $7 million on attack ads against Massie, with wealthy allies and pro-Israel donors funding it and other PACs seeking his defeat.
While PACs spent a staggering amount on attack ads against Massie, the incumbent congressman was not defenseless, as his campaign and allied PACs combined to spend more than $18 million in the primary — only slightly less than that of pro-Gallrein spending.
The $37 million of spending far-outpaced the previous record for a U.S. House primary, when $25 million was spent in a New York Democratic primary in 2024, where George Latimer defeated Rep. Jamaal Bowman. Just like in Massie race, pro-Israel groups were instrumental in funding PAC ads to defeat Bowman.
Here is a breakdown of the PACs that spent more than $25 million on ads in the Kentucky primary race, as well as the wealthy donors and dark money groups that funded them.
Pro-Israel, pro-Trump billionaires fund most anti-Massie spending
Though Gallrein’s campaign only spent $3 million during the primary, he received a huge lift from the $15.5 million of independent expenditures made on his behalf by three super PACs looking to unseat Massie.
The largest-spending group was MAGA KY, which was formed by Trump campaign advisers and aired ads attacking Massie for nearly a year. It reported spending a total of $7.4 million, with nearly $3 million of those advertisements launching in the final two weeks of the primary.
This final ad push by MAGA KY at the close of the campaign was largely funded by America 21 PAC, which directed a total of $4.4 million to the PAC. The largest donor of both PACs was hedge fund manager Paul Singer, a major Trump donor who combined to give them $3 million. Also giving $1 million to America 21 was Jonthan Pollock, the co-CEO of the same investment firm as Singer.
Another top donor to MAGA KY was Israeli-American casino magnate Miriam Adelson. She contributed $750,000 directly to the PAC last year, and is the top donor of MAGA Inc., another Trump-aligned PAC that gave $560,000 in the final week of the primary.
Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson was another top donor, giving a combined $410,000 to MAGA KY and America 21 PAC.
Other top donors late in the race to America 21 PAC include:
- The Conservative Record ($1 million), a news site linked to commentators Mark Levin and Glenn Beck
- Stephen Schwarzman ($400,000), the CEO of private equity giant Blackstone
- Kelly Craft ($100,000), Kentucky GOP donor and former candidate for governor
- Marlene Ricketts ($50,000), owner of the Chicago Cubs
Two separate PACs with a mission to help pro-Israel candidates also combined to spent $8 million on independent ads to help Gallrein and defeat Massie.
Spending $4.1 million on mostly attack ads against Massie was United Democracy Project, a PAC largely funded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most prominent pro-Israel political group in the country. The same PAC spent $15 million to defeat Bowman in the 2024 primary in New York.
Spending $3.9 million on mostly positive Gallrein ads was the Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund. The group received $350,000 from the Congressional Leadership Fund — the top super PAC for House GOP candidates — and $250,000 from Trulieve, a Florida cannabis company. But the identity of RCJ Victory Fund’s top donor is unclear, as it reported receiving $5 million from Kua Ventures LLC — which has a New Hampshire mailing address, but no online footprint.
Pro-Israel groups were vocal about their desire to defeat Massie, who was an unapologetic critic of Israel’s military action in Gaza that followed the 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas. Massie supports cutting off military aid to Israel, calling its action in Gaza a genocide and blaming it for pulling Trump into the ongoing war with Iran.
Largest donor to pro-Massie PACs remains a mystery
Five PACs combined to spend $9.6 million on independent ads supporting Massie in the primary, which was slightly more than the nearly $9 million spent in total by his campaign.
The largest spender among them was Kentucky 4th PAC, which purchased $6.6 million on ads in just the final two months of the primary. However, the true identity of the PAC’s sole donor remains unknown.
The PAC reported that Tamarack Aspen Inc. contributed nearly all of $6.7 million that it raised. The 501(c)4 dark money group was created in Delaware just before it became active in the race, has a Dallas, Texas address at a FedEx shipping center and has no online footprint.
Last month, the Campaign Legal Center — a campaign finance watchdog nonprofit — filed a complaint with the FEC alleging that Tamarack Aspen’s funding of Kentucky 4th amounted to an “unlawful straw donor scheme,” calling it a shell corporation “formed and used for the sole purpose of unlawfully concealing the true source” of the PAC’s funds.
The next-highest spending pro-Massie PAC was Kentucky First, which bought $1.4 million of independent ads. Nearly all of its funding came from Protect Freedom PAC, which is largely bankrolled by billionaire Pennsylvania investor Jeff Yass, who has been one of the most prominent GOP donors in Kentucky elections in recent years.
Spending $1.1 million for Massie on digital and mail advertisements late in the primary was Make Liberty Win. The PAC supports fiscally conservative candidates and is largely funded by Young Americans for Liberty, a dark money nonprofit that spun off from the presidential campaign of Ron Paul.
Gun Rights America — a PAC funded by the National Association of Gun Rights, a hard-right Second Amendment advocacy group — also spent $34,000 on ads for Massie.
Lastly, Hold the Line PAC spent $330,000 late in the campaign on ads attacking Gallrein. This included one controversial ad that highlighted Paul Singer’s support of PACs attempting to defeat Massie and claimed that the investor supported transgender rights — featuring a rainbow-colored Star of David.
Hold the Line received $53,000 from a PAC whose largest funder is Pace-O-Matic, one of the largest companies in the “gray machine” or “skills game” industry.
But the largest contributor by far to Hold the Line PAC was Heritage Dairy LLC, a farm based in New Mexico with little online footprint.
After Massie’s defeat, he made a toast to the crowd of enthusiastic supporters with a glass of raw milk — the beverage he has long advocated for reducing government regulations on.
Gallrein faces Democrat Melissa Strange in the general election for Kentucky 4th Congressional District. His campaign reported entering July with $810,000 cash on hand, while Strange has $11,000 in the heavily Republican district.
