Rep. Bob Good is pressing forward on his demands for a recount in his primary race, as he trails his GOP opponent John McGuire by 370 votes.
The chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus confirmed his recount plans to POLITICO a week after the polls closed in his primary. McGuire prematurely claimed victory that night, before any election officials had declared a winner. The AP has not called the race because of the impeding recount — while the results are unlikely to shift enough for Good to overtake McGuire’s lead, the AP noted it could be possible.
Asked in the Capitol hallways if he plans to seek a recount, Good (R-Va.) replied: “Yes.” He had an equally brief answer when asked if he had the money to pay for it: “Yes.”
While Good is within the threshold needed to request a recount, he is just shy of the 0.5 percentage-point-or-less requirement that would force a government-funded recount. Instead, he has to pay for it using his own campaign money.
Good signaled he would be willing to respect the results of the recount, though he’s cast doubt about the integrity of the race in interviews. Election officials have firmly dismissed those claims.
“We just want an accurate reflection of the intent of the voters who legitimately, and legally, participated. Everybody should want that,” Good told reporters. “We intend to pursue that. And we’ll respect that when that does happen.”
