Rep. Bob Good seeks recount in GOP primary with Trump-backed McGuire

July 16, 2024

RICHMOND — House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good on Thursday requested a recount in last month’s Republican primary after state-certified results showed that he narrowly lost to John J. McGuire III, sending a heated contest between two hard-right 2020 election deniers into overtime.

Good’s campaign filed a recount petition in Goochland Circuit Court for the June 18 primary in the 5th Congressional District, the rural central Virginia territory he has represented in Congress for two terms. State-certified results put him 374 votes behind McGuire, a state senator backed by an unlikely alliance of former president Donald Trump and establishment Republicans.

“While this was not the election night outcome we had worked for, my team and I are doing everything we can to finalize a very tight race that sadly included months of unprecedented Swamp Dollar spending on dishonest ads and messaging,” Good said in a fundraising appeal sent to supporters Wednesday. “We haven’t given up, because the America you and I love is worth fighting for.”

Sean Brown, a consultant with McGuire’s campaign, said the recount will not change the outcome.

“Recounting the ballots and delaying the inevitable may make Bob feel better, but it won’t make him congressman again,” he said. “More people voted for John McGuire than voted for Bob Good, no matter how many times he counts it. It is hard to imagine there are donors out there willing to invest in what is certainly another losing effort by Bob.”

University of Mary Washington political scientist Stephen Farnsworth agreed that Good’s odds are long.

“Everything at this point has been double-checked and triple-checked by election authorities,” he said. “I can’t think of a case in a congressional primary in Virginia where a magnitude this large has been overturned.”

Good quickly rose to national prominence in Washington while making enemies across the GOP spectrum, alienating moderates as the obstructionist Freedom Caucus chief and enraging Trump by initially endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for president as the more reliable social conservative.

Good said privately that he favored DeSantis because Trump had waffled on social issues such as abortion and guns. His comments — secretly recorded and turned into attack ads against Good — highlighted the unease some Christian conservatives have with Trump, a tension that surfaced on a national level this week as the former president prodded Republican delegates in Milwaukee to adopt a convention platform that was softer on abortion and same-sex marriage.

At least until he got crosswise with Trump, Good’s unyielding conservatism played well in a district that in 2020 replaced its previous Republican congressman, Denver Riggleman, with Good after Riggleman officiated a same-sex wedding.

Good and McGuire spent the primary trying to prove their loyalty to Trump, both having backed the former president’s false claims that Democrats stole the White House in 2020.

Good voted against certifying the 2020 election and rallied outside the Justice Department on behalf of Capitol riot defendants. McGuire, a former Navy SEAL who flies Trump flags from his Ford pickup, attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally in D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, (without, he says, storming the Capitol) and has promoted a local showing of “2000 Mules,” a discredited film that purports to show voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Good endorsed Trump for president after DeSantis dropped out in January, but the damage was done. The former president called Good a backstabber, endorsed McGuire, made a TV ad for the challenger and called in to McGuire’s tele-rally the night before the primary. At the same time, establishment cash poured in against Good, one of eight Republicans who teamed up with Democrats to oust Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the House speakership.

McGuire claimed victory on election night but Good did not concede and immediately began raising concerns about the integrity of the election. Once the state certified the results on July 2, party leaders including Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) congratulated McGuire while affirming Good’s right to a recount.

State law allows the apparent loser of an election to seek a recount — at his or her own expense — if the margin of victory is not greater than 1 percent of total votes cast. Localities cover the cost if the margin is within 0.5 percent. With 62,792 votes cast, McGuire’s margin is 0.595 percent. Good had until Friday to make the request.

“Virginia’s actually pretty good at counting ballots compared to a lot of other states, and if there are mistakes, they’re usually small ones and they’re usually caught in the first few days after the polls close,” Farnsworth said. “Once you’re outside the margin where the taxpayers cover the recount, your prospects are vanishingly small.”

State law requires the petitioner to post a bond in the amount of $10 per precinct, which came to $3,270 in Good’s case. But it will be up to the court to determine the cost of the recount, which Good’s campaign says could reach $100,000. His campaign was seeking approval from donors and guidance from federal elections officials early in the week to tap general election campaign funds for the recount, according to a letter Good’s campaign treasurer sent to the Federal Election Commission. Punchbowl News first reported the letter.

Good’s campaign manager, Diana Shores, told The Washington Post that it is routine to re-designate general election contributions to recount funds. She said the campaign is seeking to do that primarily as a convenience to donors, saving them the trouble of canceling their initial contributions and making new ones for the recount.

“My opponent and his Washington D.C. operatives have said repeatedly that we couldn’t afford a recount, but you have called for this recount and you have made it possible with your generous donations,” Good said in his Wednesday email to supporters, which sought donations for two funds: one for the recount, the other to retire primary campaign debts.

The nominee will go on to face Democrat Gloria Witt in November’s general election, which Republicans are heavily favored to win.

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