U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., may have lost his congressional seat, but his supporters don’t want that defeat to end his political career.

At his watch party on Tuesday, around 500 of his supporters gathered at the Marriott Cincinnati Airport International Ballroom, consistently chanting “2028” throughout his 30-minute concession speech.

But some supporters weren’t trying to indicate that Massie should for Northern Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District again. When Massie played it coy and asked the crowd if they wanted him to make a comeback in Congress, multiple people yelled back “no!” and said he should run for president.

“I need a medical margarita right now, and we’ll talk about it later,” Massie said from the stage.

In one of the most closely watched races in the country, GOP primary challenger Ed Gallrein ousted Massie to represent the Northern Kentucky district. Gallrein was endorsed by President Donald Trump, who targeted Massie because of a perceived lack of personal loyalty to the president.

But Massie, an iconoclastic budget hawk and libertarian, has a loyal base of supporters, including outside of Kentucky, that could be key in building a coalition for a 2028 presidential run.

Multiple attendees at his party traveled hundreds of miles to support Massie and door-knocked for his campaign despite being unable to vote in Kentucky.

Brayden Curry, who traveled from Colorado for the party, said in an interview with the Herald-Leader he would support a 2028 presidential run for Massie.

“If 2028 comes around and Massie is running for president, I’m going to be there,” Curry said.

Timothy Kochevar, who traveled from Ohio, said he would like to see Massie run for president but is unsure if he will give into the pressure.

“He has definitely shown that he doesn’t give into pressure, so I’m not sure we can pressure him into running for president,” Kochevar said. “But I would very much like to see him do that, and I think obviously by reaction of the crowd they would like to see him do that.”

Massie isn’t the only Kentucky Republican who could run in the 2028 presidential race.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, who is a close ally of Massie, has also expressed interest in running for president. Paul previously ran in the 2016 presidential race but dropped out after poor performance in the Iowa Republican caucus.

Gubernatorial run in the cards?

Another future race Massie could enter and has left the door open to is Kentucky’s 2027 gubernatorial contest.

He would be a wildcard in the GOP primary for that race, but Massie has said before that he would be a “good governor.”

Massie has looked to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for inspiration and previously said he learned a lot from him after spending many hours with DeSantis on the road and supporting him as presidential candidate.

“I think Trump would do better if he worked closer with this Legislature, instead of trying to do everything by executive order. Certainly DeSantis used all of his executive power, but also went further and got things consummated in the Legislature,” Massie said early this year.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman is the only candidate who has formally announced a run in the 2027 gubernatorial race. But on the Republican side, U.S. Rep. James Comer is also expressing significant interest in running and seen as a front-line contender for the Republican nomination.

Massie has a long-standing friendship and political alliance with Comer, which began with endorsing Comer in the 2015 GOP gubernatorial primary.

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