Good, the incumbent, was first elected in 2020, and hoped to stave off the problem from McGuire, a former NAVY Seal who has the backing of former President Donald Trump, however outcomes from the Virginia Department of Elections present Good trailing McGuire by 330 votes.
Speaking to Steve Bannon on his War Room podcast Thursday, Good solid doubt on the canvassing course of, saying that his staff was not knowledgeable a few counting course of in a single county that began two hours early.
The congressman additionally promised a “full recount” and investigation course of and mentioned he had a big staff of attorneys.
“We’re going to we will pursue each suspicion of malfeasance, we’re investigating that and we will have some further time to do it through the recount course of,” he mentioned.
According to the Virginia Department of Elections, the canvassing course of will proceed till Tuesday, June 25 and the State Board of Elections will certify these outcomes on July 2.
Candidates will then have till July 12 to submit a recount petition.
Even although the race stays too near name, McGuire took a victory lap on X, previously generally known as Twitter simply hours after polls closed on Tuesday.
“Thank you to my household, thanks to everybody who helped out on this marketing campaign, thanks to the individuals who endorsed and supported me, and thanks to Donald J. Trump for believing in me. There are nonetheless just a few votes left to depend, however it’s clear that each one paths finish with a victory,” he posted.
The race between Good and McGuire has turned out to one of the contentious primaries up to now within the 2024 cycle. The testing of incumbents in primaries is an everyday prevalence, however earlier than the Virginia outcomes, no present member of Congress had misplaced a main this yr, other than cases the place new district strains have been getting used.
The GOP race for the reliably purple Fifth Congressional District in Virginia has confirmed to be a deep inside battle for Republicans giving the exterior forces at play.
“Bob Good has achieved extra to undermine and divide Republicans than any Democrat,” Nebraska GOP congressman Don Bacon posted on social media late Tuesday night.
Good had endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis within the presidential race — earlier than returning to former president Trump’s aspect. And final yr, Good was among the many eight House Republicans who joined with Democrats to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker.
While there have been different Republicans operating for reelection who had achieved no less than a kind of two issues, Good had achieved each, managing to anger colleagues in Washington and alienate Trump on the identical time, which made his probabilities for profitable one other time period all of the extra daunting. That problem was underscored additional when Trump endorsed McGuire within the main and took the step of holding a tele rally for Good’s challenger on the eve of the competition.
The stakes for Good are additionally stark given his present position because the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. That far-right department of House Republicans has been an issue at occasions for the GOP for the reason that celebration gained again a slender majority within the 2022 midterms. A loss by Good may complicate the group’s affect in Washington shifting ahead.
“This struggle, as , is far larger than me and my opponent, it is a lot larger than Virginia the Fifth District,” Good mentioned on main Trump ally Steve Bannon’s present on Thursday. “This will not be solely the template, as you mentioned, for the election on November 5… however it’s the swamp versus the Freedom Caucus, it is are we going to permit this seat to be purchased by the McCarthy revenge tour?”