By Moira Warburton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Rep. Bob Good, the leader of a bloc of hardline Republicans in the House of Representatives, will face a primary challenger on Tuesday backed by both Donald Trump and a key group of moderate Republicans.
The winner of the battle between House Freedom Caucus chairman and former Navy SEAL John McGuire is expected to easily capture the heavily Republican district in southern Virginia in the Nov. 5 elections, when control of the White House and both chambers of Congress will be. up for grabs.
Good angered former President Trump by endorsing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in his Republican presidential primary against Trump, only switching his support to Trump after DeSantis dropped out.
Good also drew the ire of moderate Republicans after voting in October to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his role, setting off weeks of chaos and bitter, very public infighting as Republicans tried to coalesce around a replacement.
Trump endorsed Good’s challenger McGuire, a Virginia state senator, in a social media post in May. Defending Main Street, the super PAC affiliated with the moderate Republican Main Street Caucus, has spent $600,000 on ads to defeat Good.
“He’s a Republican in name only,” said Sarah Chamberlain, CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership, the nonprofit affiliated with the caucus. The group does not normally work to oust incumbents, she said, calling Good “a unique situation” after he campaigned against moderate Republican colleagues and voted against Republican bills in the House of Representatives.
After Trump’s endorsement of McGuire, Good said in a statement: “I have never been the choice of political power brokers in Washington.”
DEMOCRATS NOMINATE CANDIDATES
Virginia Democrats and Republicans will also pick candidates Tuesday to vie for the seats currently held by Democratic U.S. Reps. Jennifer Wexton and Abigail Spanberger, both elected in 2018 when their party won control of the House of Representatives for the second half of Trump’s term.
The districts could also play an important role in Democrats’ efforts to regain a majority in the House of Representatives in November.
In Virginia’s 7th district, Eugene Vindman, the brother of Alexander Vindman, who played a key role in Trump’s first impeachment, was projected by the Associated Press to secure the Democratic nomination for Spanberger’s seat, which she is vacating to run for office for governor.
Derrick Anderson, a former Green Beret, and Cameron Hamilton, a former NAVY Seal, are vying for the Republican nomination in the competitive district that is home to many military families.
In Virginia’s 10th District, Democratic candidates seeking to succeed the retiring Wexton include state Rep. Dan Helmer, Sen. Suhas Subramanyam and Eileen Filler-Corn, former Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. The winner of Tuesday’s primary has a good chance of winning the heavily Democratic district in November.
Polling stations in Virginia closed at 7:00 PM (11:00 PM GMT).
(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Washington, Editing by Deepa Babington and Cynthia Osterman)
