Virginia Primary 2024: John McGuire, Bob Good locked in Republican congress cliffhanger

One of the most conservative lawmakers was in a close renomination contest against a rival who was endorsed from former president Donald Trump in Virginia’s primary race on Tuesday.

By FOX 5 DC

Jun 19, 2024 11:01 AM

FALLS CHURCH, VA – One of America’s most conservative congressmen was locked in a tight renomination battle against an opponent endorsed by former President Donald Trump in Virginia’s primary election Tuesday.

Rep. Bob Good, who heads his hard-right House Freedom Caucus, is seeking a third term as a representative of the state of Virginia’s 5th Congressional District however, state senator. John McGuire has mounted an aggressive campaign which shows the divisions within this group.

The ballots have yet to be counted and the narrow gap made the race late to make a decision. Virginia is a holiday state and isn’t likely to count votes this Wednesday because of. McGuire defeated Good with 327 of the votes or 0.52 percentage points, in the case of 62,495 ballots that were counted at noon a.m. on Wednesday.

Additionally, Democrats in northern and central Virginia picked candidates to replace incumbents with a popular record who won’t be running for an election. For House District 7 Eugene Vindman won a very crowded Democratic primary to to keep the seat vacant by U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger who is seeking the governorship in 2025. Republicans have chosen Derrick Anderson.

In House District 10 District 10, residents chose Suhas Subramanyam out of 12 Democrats to run for the seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton who is not running for reelection in the northern Virginia seat following her diagnosis with a rare and incurable neurological condition. Republican electors chose Mike Clancy for that seat.

In the state of Washington, voters voted for Hung Cao as the Republican candidate to the U.S. Senate to take on Democrat Tim Kaine.

Here’s a look into the most important battles that are on the table:

House District 5

Conventional political thinking suggests that someone who has an enviable conservative record like Good could be secure in the primary. However, he incurred the ire of Trump after he announced his support for Florida Governor. Ron DeSantis for president. He returned on Trump after DeSantis resigned However, Trump is now promoting McGuire as well as denoting Good as a snob.

Trump continued to attack Good while he lobbied for McGuire during a phone rally Monday night.

“Unlike Bob Good, John McGuire will not let you down,” Trump stated and added McGuire is McGuire will be “strong on the border” and “will always defend your under-siege Second Amendment.”

Good claims he believes Trump the most successful president of his life and has only supported DeSantis since Trump is constitutionally bound to one term.

McGuire on his own said he had won late Tuesday night and expressed gratitude to Trump to thank him for “believing in me.” There hasn’t been any winners announced to the AP or The Associated Press.

“There are still a few votes left to count, but it’s clear that all paths end with a victory,” McGuire declared in a statement written by the candidate.

Good Meanwhile, Good posted a tweet that said the campaign “implemented the best early voting operation that the 5th District has ever seen.”

“We are still waiting for the results of mail-in ballots and provisional ballots,” the official said. “We are doing what we can to ensure we have teams of observers and legal counsel to ensure all the votes are properly counted in the coming days.”

Good also angered Republican insiders when he voted to eliminate House speaker Kevin McCarthy, which threw the party into chaos.

Looking to make a profit to make money McGuire who is who was a state legislator and a former Navy SEAL, who has also echoed Trump’s criticisms of Good McGuire, claiming he is an “never Trumper.”

Good has attacked McGuire for being a frequent campaigner who made his announcement for a congressional run just a week after he won an election for a 4-year period in the State Senate.

If Good falls, he’d have become the only House incumbent to lose to a primary opponent this year except for the one race in which two incumbents fought because of redistricting.

The winner will be facing Democrat Gloria Tinsley Witt, who beat Gary Terry and Paul Riley.

The 5th Congressional District runs from Charlottesville to the north, through the western suburbs of Richmond and through Lynchburg and then down to Danville and Danville, which is the North Carolina border.

House District 7

Vindman is a newcomer to politics however, he was well-known to voters due to his involvement in the impeachment of Trump’s first and has been awarded the Democratic nomination for the 7th Congressional District for what is likely to be a closely scrutinized congressional seat in November.

Vindman who beat his competitors in the field of fundraising, was crowned winner in the crowded field of seven people which comprised four females of different races, who were all former or current officeholders from Prince William County, a suburb of the capital city of Washington that makes up the largest part of the county.

A former Army officer was given a bit of fame after Alex and his twin brother, Alex, reported their concerns over Trump’s phone call at Ukrainian Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which Trump requested an investigation of Biden as well as his son Hunter.

Vindman expressed his displeasure with Trump during his campaign. He in a statement of victory issued on Tuesday night said “our grass-roots movement is coming for the extreme MAGA agenda. Virginia voters are first and foremost values driven, and want to elect leaders with integrity who preserve fundamental rights and freedoms and not extremists.”

The president was criticized by some local officials who claimed he wasn’t connected to the regional political landscape.

In a contest between an ex- Army Green Beret along with an ex- Navy SEAL Republican electors favored Anderson over the Army male, Anderson, over Navy veteran Cameron Hamilton.

Anderson Hamilton and Hamilton were the two top fundraisers from a six-person field. Anderson was able to draw the support of House GOP leadership in Washington and Hamilton received support from people in Hamilton’s House Freedom Caucus.

This district runs between Prince William County south to Fredericksburg and west over Culpeper is slightly tilted towards Democrats.

House District 10

Subramanyam was defeated by other Democratic candidates, including former Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn State Sens. Dan Helmer and Jennifer Boysko and the former Virginia Education Secretary Atif Qarni. Wexton endorsed Subramanyam.

Republican voters backed Clancy out of a field that included four potential candidates.

House District 2

in Virginia’s coast 2nd Congressional District, Missy Cotter Smasal is an ex-Navy Navy veteran who manages an organization dedicated to honoring fallen servicewomen and veterans, was defeated by Jeremiah “Jake” Denton IV, a constitutional law attorney and civil rights lawyer during the Democratic primary.

She’ll be facing Republican U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans in November.

In a statement released on Tuesday night, Smasal took aim at Kiggans and “the MAGA extremism she supports in Congress.”

“I will protect abortion rights and access for all and fight for resources for veterans and military families,” Smasal declared. “I will always defend democracy and reject party extremism.”

U.S. Senate

At the Republican primaries to run for U.S. Senate, Navy veteran Cao won over four rivals for the chance to oust Kaine who is who is a Democrat who is seeking a 3rd term as Pennsylvania’s second U.S. senator.

Cao was the one with the highest amount of money and experience in campaigning, as well as previous experience in higher office in the Republican primary candidates. Cao also received Trump’s endorsement.

In a post of victory posted on Facebook, Cao immediately criticized President Joe Biden’s decision to permit the spouses of U.S. citizens’ spouses with no legal status to eventually apply to become citizens.

“Tomorrow, we begin our campaign to save the country that saved my life,” Cao said. “I spent twenty-five years in the Navy, while Tim Kaine spent thirty years in elected office.”

Cao was defeated by Scott Parkinson who was an ex-staffer in the House of Representatives who worked for the DeSantis administration and as well being Jonathan Emord, an author and lawyer who frequently refers to his court battles with the Food and Drug Administration. Another pair of Republican contestants included Eddie Garcia, a U.S. Army veteran who runs an app for mobile devices that helps veterans as well as Chuck Smith, a former Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps Commander and an attorney.

(c) 2024 The Associated Press. The Associated Press reserves all rights. The content cannot be broadcast, published, redistributed, or rewritten. Finley was a contributor to the story from Norfolk.