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Hebron, Kentucky—On election night here, Thomas Massie was repeatedly and loudly cheered by jubilant supporters who urged him to run for president. With a broad smile, he took in the scene and basked in the adulation of a crowd that viewed him as a hero. Massie even chugged a celebratory glass of raw milk.

There was only one thing truly odd about all of it. He lost.

With over 95 percent of precincts reporting, Massie—the incumbent in the Republican primary in this House district in northern Kentucky—lost by margin of 55 percent to 45 percent, defeated in a district he’d held almost effortlessly since he first cruised to victory in a special election in 2012.

Massie’s race was comparatively close, considering the fates of other Republicans who had defied Trump. Only three days before, two-term Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy finished third in his primary bid for re-election, earning less than 25 percent of the vote after Trump had denounced him for supporting the president’s impeachment in 2021. The Kentucky incumbent had built his own quirky libertarian brand over the years which endeared him to many on the right. Unlike most other Republicans who Trump had tried to oust in primary challenges, it was hard to characterize Massie as a RINO.

Nominally, Massie was defeated by Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL and failed state senate candidate who now, thanks to the district’s deep-red nature, is a shoo-in to win a House seat in November. But Massie’s real........

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