Rep. Bob Good is infamous for the scorched-earth ways he has repeatedly used because the chief of the ultra-conservative Home Freedom Caucus.
He simply acquired burned by them.
In simply two phrases, Good constructed enemies in each wing of the Republican Celebration — and that opposition got here out in pressure 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 major concluded Thursday.
Good requested the recount after the preliminary outcomes had been inside a one-point margin. The race was so shut that Good was behind by just some hundred votes within the last rely, sufficient that the Related Press couldn’t name the race.
Greater than a month later, the Thursday recount confirmed the end result: Good had been ousted, The Related Press stated, unable to make up the roughly 400-vote deficit out of greater than 62,000 ballots solid in June. It’s a gorgeous defeat; Good was taken down by neither private scandal nor an ideological problem however due to his caustic method towards his fellow members in addition to his alienation of Donald Trump. His loss is much more hanging as a result of Home Republicans have moved to the best lately.
However the Virginia firebrand had made too many foes too shortly.
His dedication to dam a part of the GOP’s legislative agenda by any means needed made him unpopular along with his colleagues. He endorsed Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid even earlier than the Florida governor had entered the race towards Trump. Months later, he joined with seven different members final fall to defenestrate former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. After which he needlessly inserted himself into the primaries of his Republican colleagues, spurring private grievances that compelled them to return the favor.
“Bob Good is universally acknowledged to be an asshole,” stated Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), who endorsed McGuire.
Good had vowed to request a recount, one which he needed to pay for, whilst votes had been nonetheless being counted. And he shortly began to sow doubt concerning the outcome, making false claims about disruptions at polling locations that he advised signaled impropriety. However McGuire’s margin of victory, whereas small, remains to be within the tons of of ballots.
The starvation for vengeance towards Good got here from a large swath of the GOP. McCarthy and his allies made him the most important goal of their efforts to unseat the members who propelled the speaker’s ouster, and tremendous PACs aligned with them poured tens of millions into the first. Trump endorsed McGuire and used his megaphone to advertise him, irritated that Good had initially backed DeSantis.
And colleagues who had fended off challengers endorsed by Good paid him again. Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.) confirmed up with volunteers within the closing days of the race to knock on doorways for McGuire, and Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) directed his donors towards the state senator.
Even a member of the Freedom Caucus, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), took the stunning step of backing McGuire. Defending Principal Avenue, which works to elect mainstream Republicans, was so disenchanted by Good that it broke its unofficial rule of not actively opposing GOP incumbents.
“The recount confirmed what we already knew … Good misplaced. The one distinction now’s he’s poorer. Time to rally behind America’s actual warriors for freedom,” stated Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), a former Navy SEAL whose SEAL PAC backed McGuire.
In an earlier interview, Zinke stated Republicans who banded collectively to oust Good did so as a result of he’s “harmful to the Republican social gathering, Congress, the Freedom Caucus. And, most significantly, Good was harmful to the folks in his district.”
Good does have his defenders, together with his Freedom Caucus allies and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who argue he is a vital unbiased voice. He additionally had a robust present of assist from native elected officers within the district who had been backing his reelection bid.
“May that be why the swamp shouldn’t be drawn to somebody like Bob Good — as a result of Good shouldn’t be right here for energy?” stated Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) at a rally for Good simply days earlier than the first. “That Bob’s there and prepared to tackle the laborious fights?”
Good additionally obtained assist from the anti-tax Membership for Progress, which is understood for antagonizing others within the GOP, and the political arm of the Home Freedom Caucus. Professional-Good teams spent almost $5.5 million on adverts to prop him up — Good himself didn’t have the cash to run a single TV advert.
However McGuire’s supporters dumped much more cash into the race: $7.5 million, together with $6.9 million from teams with ties to McCarthy allies. In whole, the race drew $14.5 million in outdoors spending, in accordance with the advert monitoring agency AdImpact.
Good slammed McGuire as a puppet who would vote in lockstep along with his extra mainstream GOP backers on laws resembling assist to Ukraine and Israel.
He contrasted that along with his personal votes, which he stated aligned with the voters: “What folks up right here in D.C. don’t perceive is that I’m doing what the Republican voters in my district need me to do.”
Good had almost survived — a possible testomony to, amongst different issues, the facility of incumbency — however when these voters had their say, they fired him. Trump’s assist for McGuire possible served to rile up the bottom.
When Good and McGuire traveled to New York in Might to assist Trump throughout his legal trial, they discovered themselves face-to-face in a bunch assembly with the previous president. Good sought to one-up his opponent in entrance of the GOP presidential candidate, nevertheless it appeared to backfire.
Speaking to Trump, Good took a swipe at McGuire for refusing to debate. However the former president later turned to Good and requested how his endorsement of “Ron DeSanctimonious” was understanding. Lower than two weeks later, Trump endorsed McGuire, handing him essential forex in a GOP major.
In the meantime, McCarthy’s allies ginned up the cash.
Good was their greatest shot to push out one of many eight Republicans who had voted to strip McCarthy of his gavel. Reps. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) selected to not run once more. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) was one other goal, however she gained her major.
This was Good’s first actual major battle. In 2020, he ousted then-Rep. Denver Riggleman in a conference of social gathering delegates, who are typically extra conservative than the broader Republican voters, and gained renomination the identical approach in 2022.
“We stated there will probably be penalties. Buck is gone. Rosendale give up,” stated Brian O. Walsh, a high McCarthy lieutenant. “This was the one we wished to get. Bye bye, Bob.”
Walsh personally traveled to the district in March to take a seat in on focus teams of GOP major voters that examined messages for the anti-Good effort.
These teams advised a strategy to make a strong ideological argument towards Good: Whereas voters within the district assist fiscal conservatism, in addition they have spending priorities. Good’s votes towards payments that might fund advantages for veterans and the armed forces might be weaponized to anger voters in a military-heavy district. That argument made it into an ad.
“He deserves to get what he was giving all people else,” Bacon stated. “We’re gonna be a greater place with out him.”
