The Virginia Board of Elections certified the results of the 2024 congressional primaries Tuesday. That gives Congressman Bob Good the chance to make good on his promise to ask for a recount in his failed bid against Senator John McGuire.
“We believe if every legitimate, legal vote gets counted, and only that, that reflects the intent of the voters who legitimately participated in this election, we will prevail," Good, Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District Representative, told conservative commentator Steven Bannon on a recent episode of the Trump ally's podcast. Good lost to state Senator John McGuire by about .06 percent in the June 18th primary, just outside the limit to force the state to cover the costs of a recount.
But in a statement sent to NBC News Tuesday, Good’s campaign promised to file for a recount and to fund it with "thousands of dollars in donations” that have come in to support the effort.
McGuire, meanwhile, sent attorney Daniel Bruce from the VA GOP-supporting DC law firm Holtzman Vogel to quote “correct the public record” in the face of Good’s claims, among them concerns about a handful of ballots in Lynchburg.
“We’re talking about 7 ballots from that drop box, nowhere near enough to change the result of this election where John McGuire leads Bob Good by a margin of nearly 400 votes,” Bruce said during the Board of Elections public comment period.
Head of the Department of Elections Susan Beals also appeared to address Good’s concerns about fire alarms at several public-school polling sites which he claimed allowed for additional irregularities.
“In every case officer of elections secured voting equipment, reopened quickly and made sure no voters were turned away,” Beals said of the system tests which had been scheduled during the summer while school children were not in class.
Good now has 10 days to file a petition with Goochland County Circuit Court, the locality where McGuire resides. The court will determine the cost after the petition is filed and the recount is expected to follow.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
