U.S. House Rep. Thomas Massie, who currently represents the northern Kentucky district, listens as his Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein attack his record at a GOP annual dinner in Pendleton County on Saturday.(Sylvia Goodman / KPR)GOP Congressman Thomas Massie told a crowd of Republicans in rur al Butler, Kentucky, that he agrees with President Donald Trump 90% of the time. But Massie said, when he disagrees with the party, he’s not going to be a rubber stamp.“We've been in power for 16 months: the House, the Senate and the White House. We've added $2.7 trillion to the deficit, and that goes right on to the debt,” Massie told the crowd. “I'll vote with you, not with them, when they want to do that.”It’s a fundamental difference between Massie and his Trump-backed challenger. Ed Gallrein touts his Trump endorsement and says he’ll act in lockstep with the president as Massie pledges he will vote in line with his long-held principles — even if it puts him in the president’s crosshairs.At the Pendleton County Republican Party’s annual dinner, more than 140 Republicans came to hear from candidates who would be on their primary ballot, and Gallrein and Massie’s speeches were the biggest topic of conversation. Several voters told Kentucky Public Radio that they still haven’t decided who they’ll vote for in a race that has garnered national media attention.Former Navy SEAL officer Ed Gallrein, who is challenging Congressman Thomas Massie, speaks before a group of local Republicans at the Pendleton County GOP Reagan Day Dinner.(Sylvia Goodman / KPR)Teri Strong, a former public school science teacher whose husband is running for Pendleton County judge/executive, said she doesn’t enjoy all the “mud-slinging” she’s seen coming from both sides and wants some to talk about the issues that matter to her.“I want someone who will do things that make my life easier,” Strong said.She said she doesn’t mind that Massie doesn’t always vote with the party or the president — that's how the federal system of checks and balances was set up to function. Strong, like others who spoke to KPR, said the Trump endorsement will not decide her vote.Lynda Meyer, who runs a small goat farm with her husband, said she wants someone who talks about the issues that matter to her, like supporting veterans and their families. She says she respects Gallrein’s military record as a retired Navy SEAL officer and thinks it might be time for new blood in Congress.“What are you going to do for our county and our state and our country? I don't care what you think about the other candidate,” Meyer said. “I don't care who backs you. I want to know what you stand for.”Gallrein proudly described meeting with Trump in the White House, where the president — who is not quiet about his frustration with Massie — convinced him to run for the 4th Congressional district in northern Kentucky. Gallrein, a decorated veteran and farmer, previously ran for a state Senate seat, but lost in the primary.“He sides with the radical Democrats in the liberal elites against us and our families again and again,” Gallrein said. “President Trump knows this. Our party knows this, and you know this. That's why President Trump asked me to serve again, and has given me his strongest endorsement in this campaign to join him and be your champion in Washington.”Gallrein said that Massie has “Trump derangement syndrome” and called him a “darling of the mainstream media.” He especially takes issue with a New York Times piece that ran in March and asked whether Massie could overcome Trump’s ire to hold onto his seat.“The New York Times didn't even talk to me. They spent all the time with him, and they did a loving article on him, because they love him, but his nonsense won't work, because you can see right through it,” Gallrein said.Kentucky Public Radio has repeatedly reached out for interviews with Gallrein, all of which have been ignored. Gallrein has also faced significant criticism from his opponent for failing to agree to a debate.Massie has joined Democrats to vote against Trump’s agenda on several high profile bills, most notably the One Big Beautiful Bill, that extended tax cuts and cut Medicaid spending all while adding trillions to the deficit over the next 10 years. But that omnibus bill also defunded Planned Parenthood for one year and provided new tax exemptions for tips, overtime and on loans for American-made cars.The seven-term congressman said bills packed with a hundred different issues are the problem — not his principles.“Every omnibus that you vote for or against incriminates you for 100 different things. And so they can run any ad they want against me,” Massie said.Massie has also become the face of the fight to see FBI files on sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein released and has pushed back hard against the president’s unilateral tariffs and engagement in foreign conflicts. He’s also championed the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, questioning the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, pushing back against civil immunity for pesticide companies and advocating for small, local farmers.Massie says this race has drawn national attention because he represents the part of the Republican tent currently going ignored.“It's a referendum on whether every Republican in the House and the Senate is going to be a rubber stamp for the executive branch or not,” Massie said. “I vote with a party about 90% of the time, and it's the 10% that's drawn the ire of the President, of [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee]. They want no dissension whatsoever.”The primary election in Kentucky is Tuesday, May 19. You can find out about candidates that will appear on your ballot at vote.lpm.org. ...read more read less