Recount looms in Virginia as Good-McGuire race declared too close to call
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It would be rare, but not unheard of for a reversal to occur.
The highly-priced, high-contentious Virginia primary between Republican Rep. Bob Good (R) and state senator John McGuire (S) is too close to predict and will likely end in a recount.
The Associated Press reported Monday, nearly a week after primary day, that McGuire had a lead of 373 votes over Good out of more than 62,000 total ballots, a margin 0.6 percentage points.
State law allows the second-placed candidate to request a recount on their own expense if there is a margin of less than one percentage point. Good has already said that he’ll seek one.
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Good stated on Steve Bannon’s “War Room”, before The AP made its decision, that “we depleted our resources trying to win the primary. We believe we won this primary even though we had been vastly outspent.” “I need funding for the recount challenge.”
Good has already raised doubts about the integrity and fairness of the elections, provoking a backlash from local officials.
The AP stated that it is not uncommon for a race to change by a few hundreds votes during a recount.
Good has 10 calendar days after the state elections board certifies that the results of the election will be held early next month to petition for a recount.
Rich Andersen, the chair of the state Republican Party, greeted this latest development with a level-headedness. He congratulated McGuire and acknowledged Good’s right for challenging the results.
Andersen stated in a press release that “as Americans, we must respect his right to do this.”
The effort to remove Good, who is the Chair of the House Freedom Caucus and has been on the wrong side of many prominent Republicans, cost millions of dollars. Former President Donald Trump endorsed McGuire, after Good had initially supported Florida Governor. Ron DeSantis is running for president. He was also facing the wrath from former Speaker Kevin McCarthy whose political campaign mobilized against eight Republicans, including Good, who voted to strip McCarthy of the gavel. Good’s colleagues in Congress also actively campaigned to remove him from office after he supported incumbents’ primary opponents throughout the election cycle.
It was a much closer race than most expected, particularly when you consider the resources McGuire received to help him. This shows how hard it is to unseat an incumbent. McGuire could become the first non-incumbent to kick a Republican out of Congress if his lead continues. (Alabama Republican Rep. Jerry Carl was defeated in his primary by a member-on-member contest due to redistricting this year.
McGuire encouraged Republicans to “unite” and discouraged a count on Monday.
In a press release, he stated that “while I understand the desire for continued fight, this election’s outcome will not change.” The fight is over and now it’s time for us to work together and move forward.