Eating Their Own

Bob Good (R-VA05) won his primary four years ago by playing on the homophobia that's still deeply embedded in the minds of American "conservatives" - his predecessor (Denver Riggleman) presided over a gay wedding, and Good used that to beat him in the primary.

Recount confirms Bob Good’s loss after GOP rallies to oust one of their own

A recount on Thursday confirmed that state Sen. John McGuire beat Good in the June election by just a few hundred votes, according to The Associated Press.

Rep. Bob Good is notorious for the scorched-earth tactics he has repeatedly used as the leader of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.

He just got burned by them.

In just two terms, Good built enemies in every wing of the Republican Party — and that opposition came out in force to align itself with state Sen. John McGuire, who defeated Good to clinch the GOP nomination for a red-leaning seat in south-central Virginia after an official recount of the June 18 primary concluded Thursday.

Good requested the recount after the initial results were within a one-point margin. The race was so close that Good was behind by just a few hundred votes in the final count, enough that the Associated Press could not call the race.

More than a month later, the Thursday recount confirmed the outcome: Good had been ousted, The Associated Press said, unable to make up the roughly 400-vote deficit out of more than 62,000 ballots cast in June. It is a stunning defeat; Good was taken down by neither personal scandal nor an ideological challenge but because of his caustic approach toward his fellow members as well as his alienation of Donald Trump. His loss is even more striking because House Republicans have moved to the right in recent years.

But the Virginia firebrand had made too many foes too quickly.

His determination to block part of the GOP’s legislative agenda by any means necessary made him unpopular with his colleagues. He endorsed Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid even before the Florida governor had entered the race against Trump. Months later, he joined with seven other members last fall to defenestrate former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. And then he needlessly inserted himself into the primaries of his Republican colleagues, spurring personal grievances that compelled them to return the favor.

“Bob Good is universally recognized to be an asshole,” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), who endorsed McGuire.

And this McGuire guy is no fuckin' prize either.

It seems like these jerks just drift from place to place looking to run for office for no better reason than, "Well now - this looks like easy pickin's. These sorry rubes are just my kinda people."

In October 2019, while campaigning for re-election, McGuire declined to commit to completing his second term in office, responding to widespread speculation that he was considering a congressional campaign. After winning re-election in November, McGuire announced his candidacy for U.S. Congress for Virginia's 7th congressional district. McGuire lost a closely contested convention to state Delegate Nick Freitas, who went on to narrowly lose to Abigail Spanberger in the 2020 election.

McGuire publicly opposed Virginia's ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, pointing out that the resolution had missed the deadline for ratification.

McGuire attended Stop the Steal rallies throughout Virginia in 2020. He has claimed the COVID-19 pandemic was a "plan-demic" designed to change voting laws and rig the 2020 presidential election. McGuire admitted to attending President Donald Trump's January 6, 2021 rally in Washington, D.C., but has denied participating in the subsequent attack on the United States Capitol.

McGuire has declared his candidacy for the U.S. Congress in 2024, having been recruited by allies of former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to challenge Bob Good as part of what Politico described as a "vengeance operation" against those who voted to oust him. He was endorsed by several members of Congress and former President Donald Trump.