It was too close for a call to be made late Tuesday night in the Virginia 5th Congressional District Republican Primary between House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good and state senator John McGuire. A recount appeared to be a possibility.

McGuire, however, claimed victory around 11:40 pm at his election-night party.

He said, “The results are in, and the people spoke.” It is an honor to serve as your Republican nominee.

McGuire said in a follow-up email: “There’s still a few votes to count but it’s obvious that all roads end with victory.”

Around 11:40 pm, when Mr. McGuire made his remarks, and 93% of votes were in, he held a razor thin lead. He received 50.3% compared to 49.7% for Mr. Good.

The margin of victory was less than 400, but Mr. McGuire held onto the lead well into the night. It had changed several times during the first hours following the close of the polls.

But Mr. Good didn’t concede.

Around 11 p.m., he posted on his social media accounts to thank his supporters and suggested that it may be a few days before final results were announced.

He said, “The entire DC Swamp had over $10 million worth of attack ads against us. But with your help, we were able make this race too tight to call.”

We are still waiting on the results of the mail-in and provisional ballots. We will do everything we can to have legal counsel and teams of observers to make sure that all votes are counted properly in the next few days.

Virginia law does allow for a recount if a candidate requests it if their margin of victory on election night is less than one percentage point.

Other candidates in Virginia’s 7th District, including Army veteran Eugene Vindman whose twin Alex Vindman testified in Mr. Trumps first impeachment attempt, were defeated by seven other Democratic candidates.

Mr. Vindman is going to try to keep the district under Democratic control and replace Rep. Abigail Spanberger who decided to run for Governor next year rather than re-election.

The Republicans hope to flip Virginia 7th District.

Derrick Anderson won the GOP primary. He is a former Army Special Forces Platoon Leader who had been backed by House Speaker Mike Johnson from Louisiana and other GOP leaders. Cameron Hamilton, an ex-Navy SEAL who was his closest opponent, received support from Mr. Good as well as other Freedom Caucus Members.

Suhas Subramanyam, a state senator from the 10th district of the Commonwealth, won the Democratic primary against 12 other candidates to fill the vacant seat.

Rep. Jennifer Wexton (Democrat) of Virginia is retiring due to health complications. She was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy – also known as “Parkinson’s on steroids.”

After redistricting, the district is heavily Democratic. Mr. Subramanyam has a good chance of winning in November.

The 5th District Primary brought together different factions in the Republican Party to oppose Mr. Good, from former President Donald Trump, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and his establishment allies within Congress to aggrieved former and current Freedom Caucus Members Reps. Warren Davidson & Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Mr. Trump reacted against Mr. Good for his support of Florida Governor. Ron DeSantis as president despite Mr. Good’s immediate switch to support the former president after Mr. DeSantis dropped his candidacy.

“After I won my primaries, he was a huge fan.” “But that’s not enough because they tend to leave very quickly,” said Mr. Trump Monday at a tele rally promoting Mr. McGuire’s candidacy.

He did not criticize the Freedom Caucus’s chair for his policy positions, despite Mr. Trump’s claim that he would “stab Virginia into the back”. He referred to the complaints of many House Republicans who said that Mr. Good was more interested in obstructing than advancing legislation.

“He always made things difficult and was against the things that everyone would have liked,” said Mr. Trump. “He is not very popular, I can tell you.”

Mr. Good did not engage in a one-sided fight, but instead praised the former president’s legacy and hailed the Freedom Caucus in Congress as the most effective group to support Mr. Trump’s policies.

Even Mr. Trump admitted on Monday’s tele-rally in support of Mr. McGuire, that he had no issues with Mr. Good. He said, “he was fine for the last six month, but before then he was a disaster.”

McCarthy has a chance to retaliate against the eight legislators who ousted him from office in October.

McCarthy, who supported McGuire’s campaign and funneled outside money to it, has tried to defeat these eight Republicans but without success.

The former speaker of the House, Nancy Mace, said that the race between Mr. Good and the McCarthy-backed opponent was the “real race” to be watched on Fox News after Rep. Mace’s victory over her McCarthy-backed opponent last week.

Some House Republicans who were either angry over the ouster of Mr. McCarthy or frustrated by Mr. Good’s disruptive behavior since he became the House Freedom Caucus Chair, have endorsed Mr. McGuire, with some even traveling to his district to campaign.

In the final days, even Mr. Davidson, a member from Ohio of Mr. Good’s Freedom Caucus endorsed Mr. McGuire.