Republican Congressman Bob Good has faced a primary challenger in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District before, but June’s primary will be different than the contests he’s won in the past.
That’s thanks to a state law that was patroned by Democratic Del. Dan Helmer and signed by former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam in March 2021.
That law, which went into effect in January, had one unintended consequence: It all but outlawed conventions in any election, including party primaries, in Virginia.
Helmer has said his motivation for introducing the bill was to ensure every registered voter, including military members overseas would be able to cast their ballot in contests back home, without fear of missing a convention. Conventions are like the Iowa Caucus: an in-person event where folks travel to a location selected by their political party and vote with their feet or by raising their hands to be counted.
That change in Virginia’s election law may spell trouble for incumbent Congressman Bob Good, who had won his party’s nomination twice. He won his primary first in 2020 and again in 2022, through conventions on what critics have called "his turf" in a predominately rural district that spans close to 200 miles from top to bottom. In both of those races, he garnered less than 2,000 votes at those conventions in a district with roughly 562,925 active voters, according to data from the Virginia Board of Elections.
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In the solidly Republican 5th District, the GOP primary winner is expected to win the Congressional seat.
The numbers leading up to the primary
“He has, in effect, campaigned and legislated for those 2,000 people. I believe he has not represented the voices of everyone in his district, and I think that’s a real vulnerability,” State Sen. John McGuire, Good's primary opponent, said in a recent interview with USA Today.
Though those numbers appear bleak for Good, who chairs the far-right House Freedom Caucus, he remains unfazed.
"I’ve done what I said I would do: I’ve fought for border security, I’ve fought for reduced federal spending, I’ve fought to protect our constitutional freedoms. I ran as a conservative and I’ve voted and legislated as a conservative," he said in a separate recent interview with USA Today.
Good argued that he received more votes in the 5th Congressional District than McGuire in McGuire's 2023 race for state senate.
Past elections prove otherwise, however: McGuire received 59,013 votes in an uncontested race for Virginia’s 10th Senate District in 2023. That state senate district includes Appomattox, Powhatan, Goochland, Fluvanna and Buckingham counties, to name a few of the localities that make up the 5th Congressional District as well.
The Trump factor
Regardless of that past support, McGuire declined an invitation to the only debate in the Fifth District primary, which had been schedule for May 20 according to a report by Cardinal News.
“Frankly, there is little left to debate,” a McGuire campaign spokesperson said. “Bob is never-Trump, John is an unwavering supporter of Trump.”
Gaining favor and an endorsem*nt from the former president has driven the primary race, so far. Good came under fire after he endorsed former president Donald Trump’s primary opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in May 2023.
McGuire said that endorsem*nt in the presidential primary was a motivating factor, among others, in his decision to enter the race.
“What really pushed me over the edge was having people in the district tell me how [Good] treated them,” McGuire said. “He’s a bully.”
McGuire announced his decision to enter the primary race against Good almost immediately after winning election to represent Virginia’s 10th Senate District.
And it’s that quick turnaround that has drawn criticism from his opponent.
“My opponent is a perpetual candidate in search of a race,” Good said. “He betrayed the trust of many voters, lied to many voters.”
Both candidates have parroted narratives driven by Trump, the current presumptive GOP nominee, about the validity of the 2020 election results. Many of those narratives have been proven false. McGuire attended the Stop the Steal rally on January 6, 2021 but has said he did not enter the Capitol Building. Good voted against certifying the 2020 election, and said he stands behind that decision in a recent interview. Both continue to cast doubt on the 2020 election results.
Neither has committed to accepting the results of the 2024 election in recent interviews with USA Today and both traveled to New York City to attend Trump’s hush money trial on the same day in mid-May.
Past legislative work
McGuire has patroned about 11 pieces of legislation that were signed into law by both Democratic and Republican governors since 2017, when he was elected to the House of Delegates.
At least one of his bills were co-patroned by a Democratic member of the House of Delegates. That bill, HB 1128, was passed during the 2022 special session to increase military tax benefits from $10,000 to $40,000 by 2025. Another, regarding military veteran identifiers on license plates and IDs, passed during the 2018 session, received wide bipartisan support in both Virginia's House of Delegates and state senate.
Good, elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020, has had one piece of legislation pass both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. That joint resolution was introduced in March 2023 to nullify a rule issued by the Department of Education on October 12, 2022, that suspended federal student loan payments and discharged debt. That resolution was passed largely on party lines with two Democratic House members and two Democratic Senators voting along with Republicans. The resolution was vetoed by President Joe Biden.
Good was elected to the Campbell County Board of supervisors and served one term from 2015-2019, prior to his election to Congress.
