House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, R-Va., lost his primary recount certified by a Virginia court on Thursday, cementing his narrow defeat to Republican state Sen. John McGuire.
Recount results confirmed that McGuire beat Good, after McGuire initially led Good by just 374 votes in the June primary in Virginia’s 5th District.
Well I already had said he would resign as chairman of the far-right Freedom Caucus if he did not prevail in the primary recount.
The recount officially ends the race, with Good becoming the first incumbent House Republican to lose to a primary challenger this year. Good faced a broad coalition of Republican Party opposition that included former President Donald Trump and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Trump entered the race just before the June 18 primary by endorsing McGuire, who attended the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the January 6, 2021, attack and walked to the U.S. Capitol, saying, “We felt like we were being mistaken.”
McGuire declined to commit to certifying the results of the 2024 presidential election in an interview with NBC News shortly before the primary, saying he would “need to see what happens.”
“I can understand why people don’t trust elections,” McGuire added.
Good drew Trump’s ire by endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the presidential primary, and his subsequent endorsement of Trump wasn’t enough to put him in the former president’s good graces.
Trump appeared in a TV ad and held a televised rally for McGuire before the primary, telling supporters: “John is running against Bob Good, who is no good. Despite the name, it is very bad for Virginia.”
McGuire, a former Navy SEAL whose campaign slogan was “We can do better than good,” previously told NBC News that Trump’s endorsement was helpful in the race.
“A lot of people said, ‘I don’t know anything about you, I’ve never met you before, but if Trump is endorsing you, I have you,’” McGuire said. “I believe that with everything Trump has been through, he has earned the right to call the shots and pick his team.”
McCarthy also played a role in the race by seeking to target the handful of Republicans who removed him as speaker of the House late last year.
Outside groups linked to McCarthy allies and GOP donors blanketed the district’s airwaves, spending $6.9 million against Good, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact. And although Good also had support from outside groups that helped match that spending, McGuire also outspent Good on ads, helping to get his message across to the vast district.
McGuire acknowledged that McCarthy gave him advice, noting that he spoke with the former California congressman a few times on the phone. And he pointed to the vote to recall McCarthy as evidence that Good wasn’t focused on helping his party or the district.
“If you’re on the Republican team and you’re on the Democratic team to beat the Republican team, you’re not on the Republican team,” McGuire said. “Bob is on the Bob Good team.”
McGuire is now expected to win in November, given the 5th District’s Republican lean. Trump outperformed the district by 8 percentage points in 2020, according to calculations by the Kos daily elections.
Good joins two other members of Congress who failed to advance in the primaries this year. Rep. Jerry Carl lost to a fellow incumbent, Rep. Barry Moore, in an Alabama Republican primary spurred by redistricting. And Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a member of the ‘squad’ of progressive lawmakers of color and a vocal critic of Israel, was defeated by Westchester County Executive George Latimer in the New York Democratic primary.
Syedah Asghar contributed.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
