The race between Rep. Bob Good and Virginia state Sen. John McGuire hasn’t even been called yet, but House Republicans are already celebrating the anticipated defeat of the current House Freedom Caucus chairman.
Republicans were cautious about taking a victory lap too early last week, after the primary election was too close to call. But with the results looking increasingly bad for Good, and with former President Donald Trump already congratulating McGuire on the win, the party has officially begun. And so have the asserted lessons.
“Anyone who is not on the Team needs to go,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden texted NOTUS Monday night. “This is not about a caucus, it is about a Country. Bob forgot this and has done more damage to the America first movement than any Democrat because of his ego.”
“Don’t let the door hit you in the ass, Bob,” Van Orden continued. “Or, do. I don’t care. It is time to get on with the country’s business.”
Van Orden also took to X to troll Good. He posted the number 375 — two less than McGuire’s current lead of 373 — and said, “A very Good number.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also took to X, albeit more to celebrate McGuire than to troll Good. Greene, who was the first member of Congress to endorse McGuire and was also kicked out of the Freedom Caucus about this time last year, congratulated McGuire and his campaign team for “this hard-fought victory!!”
Other members, however, took less of a congratulatory tone and more of a lecturing one for Good.
“He’s a loser, straight up,” Rep. Max Miller said of Good. He told NOTUS it was time for the Freedom Caucus chairman to “pack his bags and go home.”
“America would be better off if every member of Congress had a contested primary and contested general election,” Rep. Tony Gonzales told NOTUS Tuesday night. (Good endorsed Gonzales’ challenger, Brandon Herrera, who also narrowly lost.)
Good made plenty of his enemies last year when he voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October. But it was his decision to endorse so many challengers to Republican incumbents that might have made him a villain for much of the House GOP. In each one of those races, the challenger Good endorsed was unsuccessful. But the incumbents who survived made sure that, when it came to Good’s primary, the GOP challenger would be successful.
“This race wasn’t about Bob Good or the Freedom Caucus — it was about tactics,” Rep. William Timmons, who Good unsuccessfully tried to oust, told NOTUS. “Conservative voters in Virginia sent a message that our Republican majority needs to unite and work together to advance our conservative agenda and get Donald Trump back into the White House. Our country’s future depends on it.”
Of course, the race where Good truly stepped in it was the GOP presidential primary. Good initially endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the presidential contest, and that decision likely cost Good the endorsement of Donald Trump — and likely his reelection.
In the closing weeks of the campaign, Trump made his endorsement of McGuire a central element in the race.
He held a tele-town hall for McGuire the day before the election, where he railed against Good, saying the congressman was “not Good, despite his name.” Trump also posted multiple posts on Truth Social, saying Good was “Bad for Virginia and Bad for America.”
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Additionally, groups aligned with McCarthy spent over $5 million attacking Good and boosting McGuire.
But Good is not yet conceding defeat. He told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday that he plans to request a recount and will only then accept the results.
“We’re planning to win,” Good said.
But Good doubling down on conspiracy theories about malfeasance in the election was just another example for his colleagues as to why Good needed to go.
“People are getting to see the Bob Good that we’ve gotten used to,” Republican Rep. Austin Scott, who endorsed McGuire, told NOTUS.
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Reese Gorman is a reporter at NOTUS.