Virginia held its congressional primary elections on June 18. The GOP primary for the Old Dominion's Fifth Congressional District was so close that the state's Department of Elections only just now — on July 2 — called the race, declaring state Senator John McGuire III the winner over incumbent Representative Bob Good. 

News: The Virginia Department of Elections has officially declared John McGuire the winner over HFC
chairman Bob Good. https://t.co/904xYy5fpg pic.twitter.com/C28Lacj3Ha

— Reese Gorman (@reesejgorman) July 2, 2024

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While the House GOP Tries to Maintain Its Majority, Trump Takes Aim at Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good

With the current separation in the vote tally at .6 percent and only 374 votes separating the two (out of just shy of 63,000 total votes), Good, Chair of the House Freedom Caucus, is expected to request a recount, though because the difference is greater than .5 percent, Good will have to cover the cost of the recount himself. 

The Virginia State Board of Elections on Tuesday certified the apparent narrow defeat of Republican Rep. Bob Good, one of America’s most conservative congressmen, to a challenger endorsed by former President Donald Trump in the state’s June 18 primaries.

The board’s unanimous vote to certify the results does not end the matter, though. Good, who chairs the hard-right House Freedom Caucus in Congress, has said he will seek a recount now that the state has declared his opponent, state Sen. John McGuire, the winner of the primary in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District.

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Good has said he will pursue both a recount and legal challenges to block a McGuire victory. On social media he called for a “do-over” in the city of Lynchburg, the largest city in the district and a Good stronghold, citing alleged irregularities there.

Good and others have claimed that the city botched the vote count by accepting ballots from a drop box after Election Night.

The Lynchburg registrar has said due to a procedural error that seven ballots were retrieved from a drop box on the Friday after the election rather than on Election Night. The registrar said, though, that they believe the ballots were dropped off on Election Day and that no one witnessed any of the seven ballots being dropped off after Election Day.

Good’s campaign, in a social media post, also raised skepticism about three fire alarms that went off at polling places in three different district precincts on Election Day.

On X Tuesday evening, Good confirmed that he'll be asking for a recount.

Now that the preliminary certification of the primary election has concluded, we will move into a recount. In a race with nearly 63,000 votes that is separated by a 0.6% margin, Republican voters across the 5th District deserve to know that all legal votes have been accurately…

— Bob Good for Congress (@GoodForCongress) July 2, 2024

Now that the preliminary certification of the primary election has concluded, we will move into a recount.  In a race with nearly 63,000 votes that is separated by a 0.6% margin, Republican voters across the 5th District deserve to know that all legal votes have been accurately counted.  We will vigorously pursue that objective over the coming days and weeks, as permitted by Virginia law.

Good's campaign will have 10 days to file for a recount.