Thomas Massie

Thomas Harold Massie (born January 13, 1971) is an American politician, entrepreneur, and engineer.

He participated in the MIT Solar Car Club, which took second place behind a Swiss team in the Solar and Electric 500 at the Phoenix International Raceway in 1991.

At the time, the team set several world records including a lap speed in excess of 62 mph (99 km/h), and straightaway speeds in excess of 70 mph (112 km/h).

In 1992, Massie won MIT's then-named 2.70 ("Introduction to Design and Manufacturing", now named 2.007) Design Competition.

MIT professor Woodie Flowers, who pioneered the 2.70 contest, mentioned that Massie watched this contest on television in seventh grade and wanted to come to MIT to win it.

In 1993, Massie and his wife founded a company, SensAble Devices Inc., that allowed users to feel digital objects that appeared on a screen.

He completed his bachelor's degree the same year and wrote his thesis, Design of a three-degree of freedom force-reflecting haptic interface.

In 1995, Massie won the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for inventors and the $10,000 David and Lindsay Morgenthaler Grand Prize in the sixth annual MIT $10K Entrepreneurial Business Plan Competition.

In 1996, his company was reincorporated as SensAble Technologies, Inc., after partner Bill Aulet joined.

In 1996, Massie completed a Master of Science degree (SM) with his thesis "Initial haptic explorations with the phantom: virtual touch through point interaction".

This meant Massie ran in two separate elections on the same day – a special election for the right to serve the final two months of Davis's fourth term (within the lines that had been drawn after the 2000 Census), and a regular election for a full two-year term (within the lines that had been drawn for the 2010 census).

On November 6, Massie won both elections by a wide margin.

He raised $32 million of venture capital, employed 70 people, and obtained 24 patents during his time at the company, which he sold in 2003.

In 2010, Massie ran for Judge Executive of Lewis County.

He won the primary election, defeating the incumbent by a large margin, and then beat the Democratic nominee by nearly 40 points.

Massie also campaigned for then-U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul, speaking to various Tea Party groups on his behalf.

Before joining Congress, Massie was Judge-Executive of Lewis County, Kentucky, from 2011 to 2012.

He also founded a startup company based in Massachusetts, where he previously studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

In December 2011, Congressman Geoff Davis announced his decision to retire from his seat in Kentucky's 4th congressional district.

A member of the Republican Party, Massie has been the United States representative for Kentucky's 4th congressional district since 2012, when he defeated Bill Adkins in the special and general elections.

The district covers much of northeastern Kentucky, but is dominated by the Kentucky side of the Cincinnati area and Louisville's eastern suburbs.

Massie has been described as a libertarian Republican and a member of the Tea Party movement, which backed his candidacy for Congress in 2012.

Massie was born in Huntington, West Virginia.

He grew up in Vanceburg, Kentucky.

He met his wife, Rhonda, at Lewis County High School in Vanceburg.

His father was a beer distributor.

Massie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Massie resigned as Lewis County Judge-Executive effective July 1, 2012.

Massie announced his candidacy on January 10, 2012.

He was endorsed by Senator Paul and Texas Congressman Ron Paul.

He was also endorsed by FreedomWorks, Club for Growth, Gun Owners of America, and Young Americans for Liberty.

On May 22, 2012, Massie won the Republican nomination, beating his closest opponents, State Representative Alecia Webb-Edgington and Boone County Judge Executive Gary Moore, by a double-digit margin.

In his victory speech, Massie thanked "the Tea Party, the liberty movement, and grassroots Ronald Reagan Republicans".

He faced Democratic nominee Bill Adkins in the general election, and was expected to win the election by a wide margin.

Massie resigned as Lewis County Judge-Executive effective July 1, 2012, to focus on his campaign for Congress and allow an election to be immediately held in order to replace him.

He was succeeded by Deputy Lewis County Judge-Executive John Patrick Collins, who was appointed temporarily by Governor Steve Beshear.

On July 31, 2012, Congressman Geoff Davis resigned from office, citing a family health issue for his abrupt departure.

On August 1, 2012, the Republican Party committee for Kentucky's 4th Congressional district voted unanimously to endorse Massie as the party's nominee once a special election was called.

Beshear called a special election to take place on the same day as the general election, November 6.

Massie was sworn in for the balance of Davis's term on November 13, 2012.