On Politics: 'Mr. No' Rep. Thomas Massie faces a Kentucky reckoning in 2020

The seven Republican members of Kentucky's federal delegation occasionally have breakfast to trade notes, talk shop and get to know one another better.

On more than one occasion, Rep. Thomas Massie has been teased by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for having a contrarian reputation, a source familiar with these morning meals tells me.

"Vote yes on anything today?" McConnell asked Massie, according to the source, who asked for anonymity in order to speak freely.

Massie's reputation as Washington's "Mr. No" has burnished him among national libertarians and constitutional conservatives. He is a darling disciple of the liberty movement and is regularly the lone vote against measures as small as naming posts offices after deceased lawmakers and as big as putting sanctions on China for religious bigotry. 

That aggravates some suit-and-tie Republicans, especially in the Cincinnati suburbs of Kentucky's 4th Congressional District. It is finally catching up with Massie in the form of attorney Todd McMurtry, a former president of the Northern Kentucky Bar Association, who is launching an aggressive primary challenge.

Background:Attorney in Covington Catholic case challenges Massie in primary

McMurtry's first task is trying to put a wedge between Massie and the most popular politician in Kentucky: President Donald Trump. He is looking to turn Massie's biggest strength — ideological independence — into a liability.

"President Trump has produced real results for Kentucky," McMurtry said in a Jan. 10 tweet. "Unfortunately, when some of the toughest battles with Nancy Pelosi and her squad arose in the U.S. House, President Trump couldn’t rely on our congressman’s support."

One such example is when Massie voted with the Democrat-controlled House majority in 2019 to overturn Trump's emergency declaration to get a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Kentucky congressman was one of 13 Republicans who chastised Trump for circumventing congressional approval to pay for building a 234-mile wall.

"If legislators always vote with the president, we have a king," Massie said in Feb. 28 tweet. "If legislators always vote with the prevailing wind, we have mob rule. If legislators always vote with the Constitution, we have a republic."

The website FiveThirtyEight keeps a tally of how often every member of Congress votes with or against the president. Its data backs up McMurtry's campaign claim that Massie is the least loyal Republican to Trump in the commonwealth.

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Massie has the third-worst rating among the 197 House Republicans in terms of voting in line with Trump, according to FiveThirtyEight.

The statistics show he sticks with the president's position 69.2% of the time, which is a healthy figure in most people's minds, but Massie lags behind Kentucky's other congressmen (not counting Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth), who voted in support of Trump's position more than 95% of the time.

The reason for the high expectation, according to FiveThirtyEight's formula, is the president won Massie's district by 35.9% in 2016. It calculates the congressman should be voting in line with Trump 95% of the time.

Massie pushed back when asked about FiveThirtyEight's rating by The Courier Journal. He said many of the measures used in the tally are opposed by his constituents and that he evaluates what's best for them, "not some website."

"If it were true that I didn't strongly support President Trump, his campaign wouldn't have asked me to co-chair his campaign in Kentucky," Massie said. "In that capacity, I'll do everything I can to make sure he's reelected in 2020."

Massie's campaign is also flexing its support among the Trump faithful by releasing a plethora of endorsements this past week from notable Republicans across the country, including Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who is a major Trump ally.

More Massie:Kentucky Republican breaks ranks on Iran war powers resolution vote

The list showcased Kentuckians, too, such as liberty pal U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and state constitutional officers such as Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles and Treasurer Allison Ball.

Noticeably absent from the list were McConnell and Team Mitch proteges such as Daniel Cameron, the state attorney general, and Michael Adams, the secretary of state.

"They didn't ask us," McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden said. "We're not going to be involved in it."

Adams said the congressman did reach out to him for support. He declined until his office could assess the "engagement in political activity" he should have as Kentucky's election chief.

"I've received several requests for candidate support and am holding any until we review pertinent ethics opinions and adopt a policy I'm comfortable with," Adams told me.

Reach Phillip M. Bailey at pbailey@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4475. Follow him on Twitter at @phillipmbailey.