by Brandon Jarvis
State Sen-elect John McGuire announced Wednesday that he is primarying Rep. Bob Good (R-VA05) and he immediately faced pushback from Republicans in his state Senate district.
McGuire was elected to the Senate last week amid rumors that he was likely going to be challenging Good for his seat in the House of Representatives. He waited eight days to make those rumors official when he sent an email to his supporters entitled “We can do better than Good.”
The main reason cited for his challenge to Good is the congressman’s endorsement of Ron Desantis over Donald Trump in the presidential primary. “On the day our president was wrongly indicted, Bob abandoned Trump by endorsing another candidate,” McGuire said in the announcement.
He also referenced Good’s role in ousting former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy which resulted in chaos in the House of Representatives for weeks as they had no Speaker and could not accomplish any legislative work. “Our great country is under assault and is teetering on the brink,” McGuire said. “We don’t have time for politicians who are more focused on personal vanity than on We the People, we don’t have time for toxic infighting that cripples our party and country, and we don’t have time for do-nothing politicians.”
McCarthy and his fundraising power will likely back McGuire’s campaign during this cycle.
Politico previously reported McCarthy’s comments about McGuire’s potential challenge to Good. “Really? I’m shocked,” McCarthy replied sarcastically when asked about McGuire’s potential challenge. “You mean the military guy? I heard something about him.” Asked if he might get involved in the race, McCarthy said: “I don’t know. I have to study all these. Prior to being the speaker, I couldn’t get engaged in races. But I’m a free agent now.”
Shortly after McGuire’s announcement, the Goochland County Republican Committee sent him a ‘No Confidence Resolution.’ “It has become evident that John McGuire’s convention race was characterized by his personal ambitions and not by a desire to improve the welfare of the people he was elected to represent,” the resolution reads. “John McGuire has failed to honor his commitment and has broken his promise, thereby undermining the trust placed in him by the electorate.”
Goochland County makes up 12% of McGuire’s new Senate district.
“There’s a clear choice here,” McGuire said in a statement to Virginia Scope Thursday. “Do you stand with President Trump or Bob? Do you stand with veterans or Bob? Do you stand with border patrol or Bob? Do you stand with the people or Bob? I choose to stand with President Trump, our veterans, our border patrol, and we the people. I encourage folks in District 5 to join me.”
McGuire’s Senate primary opponent, Louisa Supervisor Duane Adams, did comment on Wednesday night. “On the campaign trail, John McGuire said he wasn’t going to run against Congressman Good and that he would be the leader we needed in the State Senate. He lied to the voters,” Adams posted on social media.
Good endorsed Adams during the primary race earlier this year.
Adams also posted a letter signed by himself and the third SD-10 primary candidate Sandy Brindley.
McGuire has run for Congress previously and he lost to Del. Nick Freitas in 2020 during the VA-07 nomination convention.
He attempted to run for the nomination again in 2022 but the redistricting process altered the boundaries moving him out of VA-07.
Running to the right of Good will be an interesting task for McGuire. Good was first elected to Congress in 2020 by primarying former Rep. Denver Riggleman for officiating a gay wedding between two of his staffers.
Also, Good has continued to stay on the right of most of his Republican colleagues on nearly every issue during his time in office.
Good has not yet commented on the challenge from McGuire.
McGuire will be hamstrung during the primary campaign in January as he will have to be in Richmond each day for the General Assembly session. Good will have to be in D.C. but he is a national figure after his part in the ousting of McCarthy and will be able to use his bully pulpit when he chooses.
VA-05 is a Republican district that will likely always be out of reach for Democrats in the general election. Good defeated the Democratic nominee Josh Throneburg by 15 points in 2022.
Primary day in Virginia is on June 18 next year.
