Elizabeth BeyerStaunton News Leader
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The Republican primary election for Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District ended Thursday in the Goochland Circuit Court after State Sen. John McGuire was once again declared the winner in a recount, over the incumbent Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Bob Good.
The saga of the Fifth District primary contest finally came to a close more than six weeks after election night. A few campaign signs for both candidates still stood along the sides of roads in Goochland County Thursday afternoon, a possible indication that some may not be ready to move on. In a post on social media after the recount was called, however, Good sounded like he was ready to turn the page.
"I want to thank the more than 31,000 voters of the Fifth District who voted for me in the June 18 primary, and the thousands who volunteered, contributed, prayed, and supported my re-election campaign. While I am disappointed in the ultimate outcome, it has been my distinct honor to serve as the congressional representative for Virginia’s Fifth District over the past 3.5 years," Good wrote in a post on his campaign Facebook page Thursday night, after the recount was called.
A two-term member of Congress who was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020, Good lost by a 370 vote margin, as certified by the court.
McGuire confirmed his win in a post on X Thursday night.
"This recount reaffirmed what we already knew from the June 18th primary. It really is amazing what we can achieve when we work as a team. It is an honor to be the VA 05 Republican nominee," he wrote.
Democratic efficiency on display
The gymnasium in the Goochland County sports complex had been transformed into model of democratic efficiency Thursday morning.
A blue tarp lined the floor, and about half a dozen card tables with navy blue cloths were erected adjacent to ballot counting machines in the center of the room. Less than a handful of citizens watched from the bleachers.
The Goochland County registrar had set up three stations, each devoted to Virginia’s Fifth District primary recount. That recount ended a bitter primary election that threatened to fracture the Republican Party in a hotly conservative part of the commonwealth for the better part of the year.
At each station, two elections officials fed ballots into counting machines while two observers from each campaign looked on. The same process went on in different localities across the Fifth District throughout Thursday. Once finished, a registrar and a sheriffs deputy or clerk of the court drove their results to the Goochland County Circuit Court for a final tally, which was certified by a judge. For some localities, that drive took hours. State code requires that the certification of a recount take place in the home locality of the candidate who initially won the election, and McGuire hails from Goochland County.
The process had begun at 7:30 a.m., when ballots were brought to the gymnasium by the sheriff’s office. The recount was more than halfway complete in Goochland County by 10:45 a.m. By 11:30 a.m., Goochland had recounted about two-thirds of the roughly 3,500 ballots cast in the Republican contest.
Accusations fly ahead of recount
In the days leading up to the recount, Good lobbed accusations and questions at his opponent and cast doubt on Virginia’s use of open primaries on social media.
“McGuire has avoided challenging questions and refused to debate. He hasn’t responded to allegations of stolen valor depicted in campaign ads, or to alleged campaign finance violations and investigations. What is he hiding?” Good posted on his campaign X account on the eve of the recount.
McGuire called Good a "backstabbing trash talker" in a campaign email blast the morning of the recount.
Neither Good nor his opponent had committed to accepting the results of 2024’s elections in interviews prior to the primary. Good had begun sowing seeds of doubt in the primary,as he trailed McGuire by hundreds of votes,on election night. On June 23, he tweeted that the race “cannot and must not be certified.” Both candidates had previously cast doubt on the validity of the 2020 election.
The incumbent Rep. Good called for a recount in June after the tally and the post-election canvass determined that McGuire led by a margin of 374, or 0.6%. That margin was just over the threshold to trigger a state-funded recount, which meant Good will pay for the process out of pocket. Good's campaign had said that they received donations to support the effort, an assertion that McGuire’s camp impugned.
“Bob has yet to demonstrate that he has raised enough money to cover the cost of this recount. We certainly hope he doesn’t plan on leaving the localities holding the bill for it,” McGuire spokesperson Sean Brown said, Thursday morning, with the recount underway.
The Goochland Circuit Court estimated the cost would be roughly $96,000 to complete the recount.
A bitter election, doubt cast on the process
More than $1.5 million had been spent by both Good's and McGuire's campaigns in the Fifth District primary race, leading up to the June 18 election day. More than $10 million has been spent by independent groups, according to theVirginia Public Access Project.Much of that money from independent groups went to attack ads against one or the other candidate.
McGuire had drawn criticism from Good and his supporters for jumping into the Congressional race immediately after winning election to the state senate in November.Good had drawn criticism for working to oust former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and for endorsing former President Donald Trump’s primary opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in May 2023.
McGuire received Trump’s sought-after endorsem*nt in May and Good recieved acease-and-desist letterfrom Trump's campaign ordering him tohalt his use of the former president’s name on campaign literature.
In the week that followed the primary,Good cast doubt on the validityof the election as the race remained close with Good trailing McGuire by a few hundred votes throughout the canvassing process.
Good has said he will step aside as chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus if he is unable to make up the 374 votes needed to win through the recount process.
McGuire will face his Democratic opponent, Gloria Witt, in November, though he is expected to win in the heavily conservative district.
