“Massie’s a drumbeater,” said Campbell County voter Steven Groh. “Wanting to make politics into sides.”
Groh traveled from his nearby home to Falmouth to listen to Democrat Matt Lehman speak in August at Howard’s Place Restaurant. Tucked in the back of the restaurant on Route 27, Lehman talked to a handful of voters about his campaign against U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie.
“For 10 years, our current representative has ranked at the bottom of effective legislators, barely getting a bill out of committee,” Lehman said, detailing Massie’s voting record against emergency disaster aid, such as in 2017 for Hurricane Harvey and in 2013 for Superstorm Sandy.
Lehman’s visit to Falmouth coincided with the flooding in Eastern Kentucky, which also was the anniversary of the Falmouth flood in 1997. Massie did, however, request federal funding for the flooding in Eastern Kentucky.
One of Lehman’s central campaign tenets is being a more constructive legislator than Massie, but he also hopes to address the opioid crisis.
“In terms of legislation, my priorities are constructive work on the opioid crisis,” Lehman said, elaborating that it’s one of the main things he hears about on the campaign trail.
The August stop in Pendleton County was part of Lehman’s Democracy Caravan tour that held stops through the 4th Congressional District, which stretches across the northern part of Kentucky – its easternmost point is near Ashland. Its westernmost point is just north of Louisville.
Massie has held the seat since 2012 and has handily beaten his opponents. He last beat Democrat Alexandra Owensby 67% to 33% in 2020.
While Massie’s opponents say he doesn’t accomplish anything, the five-term congressman said he plans to try to convince his colleagues in the U.S. House to pass separate appropriations bills instead of what he calls irresponsible, all-inclusive omnibus bills, if elected for a sixth term.
“I will also continue to build support for my signature legislative initiatives to end the unscientific and immoral COVID vaccine mandates, give farmers more freedom to market their products directly, audit the Federal Reserve, restore our right to keep and bear arms, and strengthen the U.S. patent system,” Massie said.
During campaign events, Lehman has repeatedly touched on what he calls Massie’s ineffectiveness and lack of care for the people of the district. It is a sentiment shared by some leaders in the Northern Kentucky region.
In early October, the president and chief operating officer of the Cincinnati Reds, Phil Castellini, held a fundraising event for Lehman at Hotel Covington. Amanda and Guy van Rooyen co-hosted the event with Steve and Nora Fink.
van Rooyen, who owns Hotel Covington, said his company wanted a tariff removed that would have allowed it to employ more than 200 people, but he characterized Massie as silent and dismissive.
“The lack of care was something that I noticed right away,” van Rooyen said before introducing Lehman.
Most notably, Massie voted against the 2021 Infrastructure Bill that could provide funding for a companion Brent Spence Bridge without tolls.
“I did not vote for Biden’s mislabeled Infrastructure Bill because it wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on high-speed internet for prison inmates, electric car charging stations, and economically crippling ‘Green New Deal’ initiatives,” Massie said, elaborating that as a member of the Transportation Committee, he would always advocate for critical infrastructure investments in the district.
Despite some of his no votes, Massie remains deeply popular in the district, as evidenced by his domination in both Republican primaries and general elections.
Without trying to adumbrate, Democratic leaders in Kentucky hope to use Lehman to close the gap on Massie while building Democratic infrastructure and more solid fundraising mechanisms.
At Kentucky’s annual Fancy Farm Picnic in August, Democratic Party Chair Colmon Eldridge told LINK nky that the fourth congressional district is where the party is hoping to rebuild infrastructure. However, they don’t necessarily see this election as a fait accompli.
“In Northern Kentucky, I remember when Ken Lucas was in Congress, and he had that kind of infrastructure,” Eldridge said, referring to the popular Northern Kentucky Democrat who held the seat from 1999 to 2005.
Building infrastructure is essential as a candidate, according to Eldridge, but he said they’re not going to put forward a candidate they don’t think can win.
“Matt is such a dynamic candidate because he’s not only right on the issues, but he’s right in terms of the visioning of how we can make it better for the next time,” Eldridge said. “Now, of course, you run to win, and so we’re behind him.”
Massie is no stranger to building a similar infrastructure, which the congressman has been doing in the district ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
“This year, I’m focused on helping principled leaders get elected to all levels of government in Kentucky,” Massie said. “I’ve been campaigning alongside mayors, judges, magistrates, state representatives, and state senators here in Kentucky’s Fourth Congressional District, and I have contributed nearly $100,000 to those campaigns.”
Through his Massie PAC and affiliation with the Making a Sensible Shift in Elections PAC, Massie is looking to elect similar-minded candidates, often called Liberty Republicans – a contemporary homage to the Libertarian Party that gained steam in the early 2000s and continues to build via the Liberty movement.
Massie’s most high-profile support is for Rep. Savannah Maddox (R-Dry Ridge), who is running for Kentucky governor in 2023.
“Kentucky needs a leader who will stand up to federal efforts to control every aspect of our businesses, our energy sources, our farms, our health, and our families,” Massie said in his endorsement for Maddox. “Kentucky needs a governor like Ron Desantis, and Savannah Maddox is that person.”
The same candidates that Massie is working to elect, Lehman refers to as extremists.
“In this area, we have a corrosive, uncompromising, extremist element that is taken root in parts of the Northern Kentucky Republican party,” Lehman said. “It is a group that cynically calls themselves the liberty caucus. They’ve dedicated themselves to electing anti-government, anti-democracy radicals to office. Unfortunately, our incumbent congressman is emblematic of this group and in support of these insurgent candidates.”
Both candidates hold significant endorsements — former President Donald Trump endorsed Massie, and Gov. Andy Beshear endorsed Lehman — but ultimately, it will come down to voters at the ballot box.
Groh, the voter from Campbell County, said he’s always leaned Democratic, but he’s never voted along party lines, especially in local elections. He’s never voted for Massie, and he’s interested in Lehman because he actually came to Falmouth to speak to voters.
“I’m glad to hear somebody speak and give their opinion on everything,” Groh said. “He’s touched on some of the things I’m concerned about — gun violence, mental health, which is a big issue with me.”
Groh told the story about a relative with mental health issues who turned 18 and can now buy a gun and “an assault rifle at that.”
“We need more people like this [Lehman] that’s looking at realistic, common sense stuff, not Trump’s party line,” Groh said.