Rep. Bob Good campaign claims he ‘can still prevail’ in cliff-hanger Virginia primary after Trump-backed rival declares victory
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good was adamant Wednesday that he could still eke out a win in his bruising Virginia primary contest against state Sen. John McGuire, despite trailing by more than 300 votes.
After the bulk of the ballots were tallied Tuesday night, McGuire — who scored the coveted endorsement of former President Donald Trump last month — declared victory, telling supporters: “I’m your Republican nominee.”
But Good, 58, declined to concede, with his campaign posting on X: “This race remains too close to call. We are in a period where the law provides a process for evaluating the accuracy of all the vote totals from election day to ensure everyone can have full confidence in the certified results.”
As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, McGuire led Good by 0.6 percentage points with an estimated 98% of the vote in — inside the 1% margin needed to trigger a recount should the incumbent request and pay for it.
“Provisional ballots and mail-in ballots are also still to be counted,” Good’s campaign said. “We are asking for full transparency from the officials involved and patience from the people of the 5th District over the coming weeks as the certification of results is completed. We believe we can still prevail.”
Virginia’s 5th District GOP primary was widely seen as a chance at revenge both for Trump, 78, and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
Good had rankled Trump by endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP presidential primary and he was one of the eight Republican rabble-rousers who banded together with 208 Democrats to topple McCarthy as speaker this past Oct. 3.
Far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who spearheaded the mutiny against McCarthy, had backed Good, a rare instance of him being at odds with Trump.
“This is a time where we need to come together because we still have a lot of work to do,” McGuire declared Tuesday evening.
“I’m your Republican nominee, but I’m not going to take it lightly. We’ve got to win in November.”
Throughout the primary, outside groups dumped an estimated $10.7 million into the race, with more than half of it earmarked against Good, per an analysis from OpenSecrets.
The 5th District, which covers much of the central part of the commonwealth south of the James River, is widely seen as solid Republican territory, meaning whoever wins the primary is favored to keep the seat red in November
Several prominent Republicans quickly cheered the news of Good trailing McGuire.
“This victory shows just how toxic Bob Good has been to the Republican Party, the America First movement, and perhaps most critically to the reelection of President Trump,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted on X.
Greene was booted from the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus last year after a spat with Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), whom Greene referred to as a “little b—.”
Moderate members of the GOP also hailed the primary outcome.
“Bob Good has done more to undermine and divide Republicans than any Democrat,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) posted on X late Tuesday. “I congratulate John McGuire on a huge win for the GOP. Goodbye Bob Good.”
