May 19 (Reuters) – Ed Gallrein, boosted by the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump, ousted incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie, a prominent Trump critic, on Tuesday to become the Republican Party’s nominee to represent Kentucky’s 4th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, NBC News projected.
Tuesday’s primary vote was seen as a test of Trump’s powers to persuade Republican voters to punish his critics. Massie has represented parts of northen Kentucky in the House since 2012, and has been an outspoken critic of Trump during the president’s second term.
(Reporting by David Morgan and Bhargav Acharya;)
