House Freedom Caucus chair files for recount in Virginia primary against Trump-backed foe
CNN —
A rancorous Republican congressional primary in Virginia that has been a proxy fight amid larger party divisions is heading toward a recount.
House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good officially filed a recount petition Thursday in Goochland Circuit Court for the June 18 Republican primary in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. Certified results by the Virginia Board of Elections show Good 374 votes behind state Sen. John McGuire.
Good’s campaign said in a statement Thursday that it had been “overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for the campaign to move ahead with the recount process.”
“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,” Good posted on social media last week.
The congressman faced a fierce effort to knock him out from a broad swath of the GOP in what became the most expensive House Republican primary of the cycle to date. As one of the chief architects of the move to oust Kevin McCarthy as House speaker last fall, Good drew the ire of McCarthy’s allies, who spent millions seeking revenge. Good also lost former President Donald Trump’s support after he endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
The race for the 5th District, which encompasses Charlottesville and parts of south-central Virginia, highlighted two contrarian trends seen in Republican primaries this primary cycle: a backlash against GOP extremism and a deeper embrace of the former president.
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Last month, South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, another target of McCarthy’s revenge,
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