According to The Associated Press, a recount conducted on Thursday revealed that John McGuire had beaten Good by only a few hundred ballots in the state election held in June.

Rep. Bob Good has a reputation for his scorched-earth tactics, which he uses as leader of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus.

He was burned by them.

After a recount of the primary vote on June 18, Good had enemies from every part of the Republican Party. This opposition sided with John McGuire to win the GOP nomination in a seat that leans red in south-central Virginia.

Good requested a recount when the results of the first round were within one point. Good’s lead was only a few hundreds votes at the end of the count. The Associated Press was unable to call the race.

The Associated Press reported that the recount on Thursday confirmed the result more than a month after the June vote. Good was ousted for failing to overcome the 400-vote gap out of the 62,000 votes cast. Good’s defeat is shocking. He was not ousted by a scandal or an ideological conflict, but rather because of his caustic attitude towards his fellow members and his alienation of Donald Trump. It is a stunning defeat, made even more so by the fact that House Republicans have moved rightward in recent years.

The Virginia firebrand made far too many enemies too fast.

He was unpopular among his colleagues because of his determination to stop a part of the GOP legislative agenda at all costs. Even before Ron DeSantis entered the presidential race, he endorsed his bid. He joined seven other members to defenestrate Kevin McCarthy, the former Speaker of the House. Then he inserted himself needlessly into the Republican primaries, causing personal grievances which compelled his Republican colleagues to return the favor.

Derrick Van Orden, a Republican from Wisconsin who endorsed McGuire, said that “Bob Good has universally been recognized as an asshole.”

Good had promised to demand a recount – one that he would have to pay for – even while votes were still being counted. He began to cast doubt on the results, claiming that there had been disruptions in polling stations which he said indicated irregularities. McGuire’s victory margin, though small, still reaches hundreds of votes.

A wide range of Republicans were motivated by a desire for revenge against Good. McCarthy and his allies targeted him as the main target in their campaign to remove the members that pushed for the Speaker’s removal, and super-PACs aligned against them invested millions of dollars into the primary. McGuire was endorsed by Trump, who used his megaphone in order to promote him. He was irritated at Good for initially supporting DeSantis.

Good’s colleagues, who had defeated the challengers Good had endorsed, paid him back. Rep. William Timmons, R-S.C., showed up in the final days of the campaign with volunteers to knock on McGuire’s doors. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) directed his donors to the state senator.

McGuire was backed by a member from the Freedom Caucus – Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio. Good’s performance disenchanted Defending Main Street (which works to elect mainstream Republicans), which broke its unofficial rule not to actively oppose GOP incumbents.

“The recount confirmed that we already knew… Good lost. He is now poorer. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont. said: “It’s time to rally around America’s true warriors for liberty.” McGuire was backed by a former Navy SEAL, whose SEAL-PAC.

Zinke stated in an interview that Republicans banded together because Good was “destructive” to the Republican Party, Congress and the Freedom Caucus. “And, most importantly of all, Good was destructive for the people in his District.”

Good has his defenders. These include his Freedom Caucus ally and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. They argue that he is an independent voice. Local elected officials from the district also showed their support for his reelection campaign.

Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, said at a rally in support of Bob Good that the swamp was not interested in Good because he is not there for power. “That Bob is there and ready to fight the hard battles?”

Good received additional support from Club for Growth – a group that is notorious for provoking others in the GOP – and the House Freedom Caucus’ political arm. Good’s supporters spent $5.5 million to promote him. Good did not have enough money to pay for a single television ad.

McGuire’s supporters poured even more money in the race, $7.5 million. This included $6.9 from groups that were McCarthy allies. AdImpact, a tracking firm, reported that the race attracted $14.5 million from outside sources.

Good called McGuire a puppet, who would vote with his GOP supporters on issues such as the aid to Ukraine or Israel.

He said that his votes were in line with what the Republican voters of his district wanted him to do.

Good was almost re-elected — a testament, perhaps, to the power of incumbents — but after voters spoke, they fired Good. Trump’s support of McGuire probably served to rile the base.

Good and McGuire met the former president in a group discussion when they traveled to New York to support Trump in his criminal trial in May. Good tried to outdo his opponent before the GOP candidate for president, but it backfired.

Good slammed McGuire in a conversation with Trump for refusing a debate. The former president asked Good how the endorsement of “Ron DeSanctimonious”, which he had made, was going. Trump’s endorsement of McGuire less than two weeks after the initial incident gave him crucial currency for a GOP primary.

McCarthy’s cronies collected the money.

Good was their only chance to remove one of the eight Republicans that had voted against McCarthy’s gavel. Reps. Ken Buck, R-Colo. and Matt Rosendale, R-Mont. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) chose not to run for reelection. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. was also a target but she won in the primary.

It was Good’s very first primary fight. He defeated then-Rep. Denver Riggleman at a party convention, which tends to be more conservative that the Republican electorate. In 2022, he won the nomination in the same manner.

We said that there would be consequences. Buck is no longer with us. Rosendale quit,” said Brian O. Walsh, a top McCarthy lieutenant. This was the one that we were hoping to get. “Bye-bye, Bob.”

Walsh personally visited the district in March, to test messages against Good with focus groups of GOP voters.

These groups proposed a way to create a powerful