Rep. Thomas Massie’s supporters held out hope for months that the Kentucky Republican — running in open defiance of Donald Trump — could overcome the president’s relentless campaign against his bid for reelection.

Political reality came crashing down Tuesday night. And Massie’s supporters worry that it’ll discourage any remaining Republican lawmakers from crossing the president, fearful that they’ll end up like the incumbent lawmaker.

“There’s going to be a chilling effect as a result of this race,” said Steve Doan, a state lawmaker in Kentucky and Massie supporter.

Massie lost his primary reelection fight to Republican challenger Ed Gallrein in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, the latest victory for Trump against a series of lawmakers (including, most recently, Sen. Bill Cassidy) whom he considered insufficiently loyal. Massie’s primary was one of the most high-profile in the country this year, drawing a record amount of spending for a House race and igniting a national debate about whether Republican voters would tolerate a representative who often flexed his independence from Trump.

Massie, first elected in 2012, himself called his race one of the most important in the country, because he said other Republicans in Congress were watching to see whether one of their colleagues could draw Trump’s wrath and still win his or her primary.

“For 14 years those SOBs in Washington tried to buy my vote. They couldn’t buy it,” Massie said in his concession speech at his election night party. “Why did the race get so expensive? Because they decided to buy the seat.”

The Republican primary attracted more than $32 million in spending on ads alone, according to data from AdImpact, an astounding sum in a single House district. Local Republicans described an unremitting amount of politics on the ground in the district, where it was not uncommon that voters would receive a dozen pieces of mail about the race and have door-to-door canvassers regularly visit their homes.

For a while, it looked as if the incumbent was holding strong: Massie in February touted a poll from his campaign that he said showed him up 17 percentage points, despite the fact ads had already been running targeting him for months.

But millions more in spending, including from pro-Israel groups like the United Democracy Project and Trump allies like MAGA KY, eventually began to sway voters, Massie supporters say. After Trump visited the district in March, the race tightened even further.

“The race definitely showed that President Trump is the leader of the party and very strong,” said Shane Noem, the chair of the Kenton County Republican Party. “He might have a nontraditional brand, but voters in the Republican Party generally trust him.”

By the race’s final weeks, even some Massie supporters had become discouraged, worried their candidate had lost momentum.

Republican officials in the state said that eventually, Trump’s influence and millions of dollars in outside spending proved too much in the race.

“This was $30 million of outside money that came into a small district that’s never had any money like that,” said T.J. Roberts, a state lawmaker and Massie supporter.