After Stinging Defeat, Massie Files for 2028 Congressional Run, Hints He Has Eyes on White House

Congressman Thomas Massie, fresh off his loss to a Trump-endorsed primary challenger, has filed to run for Congress in 2028 — and even hinted at a possible long-shot run for the White House. Mr. Massie incurred the president’s wrath by bucking him on the Epstein files and serving up one of only two GOP no votes on Mr. Trump’s marquee legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The president threw his endorsement behind Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, who defeated Mr. Massie by about ten points. Speaking to supporters after the loss, Mr. Massie attempted to put a good face on the defeat. At one point, the crowd started chanting: “2028! 2028! 2028!”“What happens in 2028?” Mr. Massie asked jokingly. “Oh, you want me to run for Congress again.”On Monday, Mr. Massie officially opened the door to a possible second act, quietly filing paperwork to run again for his seat in Congress in the next cycle. After social media users reported he had filed the forms, Mr. Massie directly addressed the news on X, saying he was simply going through the procedural steps to continue raising money. “I filed with [the] FEC for the 2028 House race. This allows me to raise funds to continue my political operations supporting my position as a current office holder and as a potential candidate for federal office,” Mr. Massie wrote — a clear tease of a possible presidential run. “I haven’t made a final decision about which office to seek, if I run,” he added. Despite the coy tone in which Mr. Massie couched his news, his entry would make the already-interesting Republican race for the 2028 presidential nomination even more so. Vice President JD Vance is widely expected to run and currently leads in all available polling. Mr. Trump, in true “Celebrity Apprentice” style, has helped fuel speculation about a more open primary process by musing publicly about other Republican candidates jumping into the race. “We’ve got a lot of beauties out there,” Mr. Trump recently said at a Rose Garden dinner attended by donors, allies, and lawmakers. “Who’s it gonna be? Is it gonna be JD? Is it gonna be somebody else? I don’t know.” He then polled the crowd by asking them to applaud for either Mr. Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Mr. Vance remains the clear frontrunner in the shadow primary, leading in every public poll. Polling aggregators notably have him well below winning a majority, however, leading to speculation that there is room for a challenger. Other strong candidates in the polls include Mr. Rubio, Donald Trump Jr., and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida. Two lawmakers on Capitol Hill — Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul — have not shied away from mooting their own presidential ambitions in recent months. In an interview with CBS News last month, Dr. Paul said there is a “50–50” chance he runs for president in the next cycle. What Mr. Massie’s chances might be in this environment remain unclear, especially given the fact that the president took a deep, personal interest in booting him out of Congress. But for a perennial gadfly, the run itself may be the real point — no matter how quixotic.

After Stinging Defeat, Massie Files for 2028 Congressional Run, Hints He Has Eyes on White House

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