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Things didn’t change that much. After Thursday’s 5th District recount, Virginia State Sen. John McGuire won the Republican primary with 31,586 votes to incumbent Rep. Bob Good’s 31,216. Overall, McGuire gained three votes in the recount, while Good added seven. This time around, Good acknowledged his loss, while thanking his supporters. 

“I want to thank the more than 31,000 voters of the 5th District who voted for me in the June 18 primary, and the thousands who volunteered, contributed, prayed, and supported my re-election campaign,” Good wrote in a statement posted to his campaign’s Facebook page late Thursday night. “While I am disappointed in the ultimate outcome, it has been my distinct honor to serve as the congressional representative for Virginia’s 5th District over the past 3.5 years.” 

All in all, there wasn’t much to discuss when it came to the recount itself. Registrars both here in Prince Edward and the other 23 cities and counties in the district assembled recounting teams and went to work, starting at 7:30 a.m. Thursday. That included going over any ballots with overvotes, undervotes or write-ins. Those were all hand-counted. The same went for any ballot that was hand-counted on Election Day. Any ballots set aside or not accepted by the scanner, those also were hand-counted. 

Good had to pay for the recount, which will cost an estimated $96,500 when everything is totaled up. That includes a $115 per diem for every member of the recount team in each city and county in the district. To be clear, this does not include registrars or the registrar’s staff in each case, as they are already paid by the respective counties. Good and his campaign were also ordered to “supply coffee, water, a boxed lunch and snacks” for all recount team members.

Looking forward after 5th District recount

At the end of the 5th District recount, Good reflected on his time in office, which will come to a close this year. 

“Since being sworn into office in January of 2021, I have responded to over 111,000 constituents in writing,” Good wrote. “My office has resolved over 6,700 cases for citizens of the 5th District who needed help with a government agency, and helped recover and return over $25 million that was owed to them by the federal government. I have been privileged to author and sponsor over 100 pieces of legislation, with 3 bills and 7 amendments passing on the House Floor. I have also co-sponsored hundreds of additional bills, and consistently fought to reduce federal spending, secure our borders, and protect our constitutional freedoms.” 

The one-term Congressman said he will continue to serve his constituents to the best of his ability over these final five months. His opponent, meanwhile, said he was glad to be able to move forward. 

“This recount reaffirmed what we already knew from the June 18th primary. It really is amazing what we can achieve when we work as a team,” McGuire said in a statement. “It is an honor to be the VA 05 Republican nominee. I want to thank God and extend my sincere thanks to my family, to everyone who helped out on this campaign, to the people who endorsed and supported me, and to Donald J. Trump. Folks in the 5th District can rest assured that should they elect me in November, they will have an effective fighter in Congress who will get the job done.” 

McGuire added that now the election’s over and it’s time for Republicans to work together.  

“I look forward to working with Trump to defeat Kamala Harris and to helping elect Hung Cao in November,” McGuire said. “Now is the time to set our differences aside and unite as a party. Together we will Make America Great Again!”

Focus shifts to general election 

And now the focus shifts to the November election, where McGuire will compete against 5th District Democratic candidate Gloria Witt. The President of the Amherst County NAACP, Witt collected 57% of the vote in a three-way primary back in June. Her two opponents in that race, Gary Terry and Paul Riley, spoke together with her at the Danville Juneteenth Summer Celebration. Riley and Terry told the crowd they would work with Witt to help her become the next member of Congress from Virginia’s 5th District.

The first day of in-person early voting for the general election is Friday, Sept. 20. The deadline to register to vote or update an existing registration is Oct. 15.