Bob Good on McCarthy, Johnson, and His High-Stakes Primary

Representative Good speaks with The Spectator before Tuesday’s contest against rival John McGuire.

 Photo Courtesy of the Good Campaign

On June 18, the second most expensive 2024 House of Representatives primary will be decided by voters in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. They will choose between incumbent Bob Good and challenger John McGuire, a state senator, for the Republican nomination. On the weekend before the election, Good spoke with The Spectator to discuss his reelection campaign and time in Congress.

While the issues of the election have since expanded, Good opened himself to a primary challenge when he spearheaded the 2023 removal of Kevin McCarthy from his post as Speaker of the House.

When asked about McCarthy, Good told The Spectator that the former speaker “represented the failures of previous Republican leadership and did not represent the change that was needed … he [was not] willing to use every tool at our disposal to truly fight the Democrat agenda.”

Additionally, Good said that McCarthy had broken the numerous deals he made with fellow Republicans while seeking their support for the speakership.

McCarthy, Good said, “promised to bring a vote on term limits to the floor. He did not. He promised to bring a balanced budget vote to the floor. He did not … He promised to follow the ‘majority of the majority’ rule, where we wouldn’t pass legislation that a majority of Republicans did not support … He broke that agreement. The final straw was the September 30 continuing resolution where he kept in place all the Biden-Pelosi-Schumer policies.” “We felt like it was time to enforce change,” Good said.

Now, Good says that the former speaker resigned from Congress to “pledge his full time and resources to try to defeat Republicans. Not to defeat Democrats, but to defeat Republicans for whom he had a personal vendetta.”

Unfortunately, he believes that McCarthy’s replacement, Louisiana’s Mike Johnson, “has been a terrible disappointment.” “I believe the speakership has changed him,” Good said, elaborating on how Johnson “has compromised his positions and his principles,” and thus “has continued to fail us in the way that the former speaker failed us.”

“All the significant votes,” Good continued, “since [Johnson’s] been speaker … have been passed with predominantly Democrat votes.”

“In fact, 90 percent or more [of] Democrat votes and somewhere in the range of half of Republican votes,” with “even less than half in some cases,” supported passed legislation, he said. “The current speaker has shown no willingness to fight.”

Good’s controversial effort to remove McCarthy earned him both significant support and determined opposition. The current primary election has grossed over $12 million in donations and PAC money, with neither candidate having a significant advantage in spending.

This election “is the number one highest profile primary race in the country,” Good told The Spectator. “This is much more than just me against my opponent,” Good continued, “this race represents the D.C. swamp striking back against those who are trying to change Washington.” “This is the former speaker’s revenge tour, striking back against those he holds responsible for him no longer being speaker,” he said.

In May, former President Trump intervened by endorsing John McGuire, claiming that Good’s endorsement of Trump in the 2024 presidential race came “too late.” Good had originally endorsed Ron DeSantis.

Regarding Trump’s endorsement of McGuire, Good told The Spectator that “there’s a reason why [Trump’s] closest allies are endorsing me. My support of President Trump is well documented.”

“As the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, I’m leading the most conservative group in Congress, and that group that will be most critical to helping him enact his conservative agenda in 2025 and beyond,” he said.

Good, who won approximately 80 percent of the membership vote to become chair of the House Freedom Caucus, commands support from many Republican leaders. National figures such as Senator Rand Paul and Rep. Andy Biggs visited Virginia’s 5th District to campaign for him. Leaders of the district GOP also endorsed Good and wrote a letter to Donald Trump encouraging him to reconsider his endorsement for McGuire. Good believes that his undisputable conservative record will earn him the support of 5th District Republicans.

McGuire, Good says, has been a “perpetual candidate in search of a race,” averaging “more than one race a year over his political career.” Good, on the other hand, notes that he has only run for two positions,  Campbell County Supervisor and Congress.

Additionally, opponents attack McGuire for running against Good despite previously pledging support for Good’s reelection and praising his conservative leadership.

When asked about his priorities for another term, Good told The Spectator that he would focus on three priority areas: “trying to secure the border,” addressing “our fiscal situation,” and continuing “to prioritize our constitutional freedoms.”

Going into election day, Good says that he is “confident that we are going to win on Tuesday.”

“I have been a true courageous conservative. I think they know they can trust me, I think they respect the integrity of the way that I approach the position they’ve entrusted to me,” he said. “I believe I can trust the people of the 5th district to get it right.”

“When you win with only 52 percent as I did in 2020,” Good explained, “there’s pressure or counsel to you: ‘Oh gosh, you gotta be careful … and vanilla, because you only won with 52 percent. I said ‘No, I’m going to do what I told the people I would do. I’m going to serve in the way that I said I would serve, I’m going to fight for the things I said I would fight for, and I am going to vote the way I said I’m going to vote … I was grateful to receive an even greater margin of victory with 57 percent in 2022.”

“I think we’re going to surprise the media and the people in Washington who truly don’t understand what the people in the 5th district want in their representative.”