Rep. Bob Good said Monday his campaign would file a legal challenge to “try to block certification” of the Republican primary election in a key city in Virginia’s 5th District as he trails his opponent in the vote count.
NBC News has not called the race between Good, the chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, and his Republican challenger, John McGuire, a state senator who leads by a few hundred votes after last Tuesday's election.
Good claimed during an appearance on Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast Monday that Lynchburg “did not secure their drop boxes.”
“There’s no accountability for when those boxes were opened,” Good said. “They were apparently left to be stuffed for two or three days after the election.”
“We’re going to be making the legal challenge in the next couple of days to demonstrate that Lynchburg, the biggest city, can’t be certified,” he added.
Neither Good’s campaign nor the chairman of Lynchburg's electoral board immediately responded to requests for comment.
Good also complained on X last week that there were fires in three precincts on Election Day. “What is the probability? Does anyone recall even 1 fire at a precinct on election day?”
Given the close margin, the race could be headed to a recount. If the candidates are separated by less than 1 percentage point, a candidate can request a recount, according to state law. If the margin is less than half of a percentage point, counties and cities would pay for a recount, but otherwise the candidate would have to cover the cost.
Good appears to be preparing for that possibility, telling Bannon: "I hate to be crass about it, Steve, but we depleted resources trying to win this primary. We believe we did win the primary, even though we’re vastly outspent. I need help funding the recount challenge, the challenge to the certification, the challenge to getting a hand count, a paper ballot match to this.”
In the interview with Bannon, Good also criticized McGuire’s support from Republicans like former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, though he did not mention that former President Donald Trump also endorsed McGuire.
“Look, just look at who’s supporting my opponent. It is the Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Eric Cantor types, the swamp folks, the RINOs, for whom the endless wars, allegiance to the industrial military complex — that’s who’s funding my opponent,” he said. “That’s who’s supporting my opponent. He would vote very differently than me in Washington.”
Good is at risk of becoming the first member of Congress to lose to a primary challenger this election cycle. The winner of the GOP primary in the 5th District will be heavily favored in the general election.
