GOOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. — A Goochland County Circuit Court judge set the date for a recount in the 5th Congressional District Republican Primary race. The recount will take place Monday, July 31. Registrars will begin counting at 7:30 a.m. and go until they’re done counting.
U.S Rep. Bob Good (R-Va) filed a petition to recount last Thursday, July 11, after losing to challenger John McGuire.
Recounts will take place in the respective jurisdictions that votes are placed in, using the same counting machines and procedures as before. Contested ballots will be taken to the Goochland County Circuit Court, where three judges from Charlottesville, Salem, and Newport News will decide on them from there.
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Good says he is “glad to get the recount”, as some things “didn’t make sense” to him and his team regarding the number of votes.
Good lost by just 374 votes, or 0.6% of the vote.
That puts him in the margin of eligibility to request a recount (0.5% — 1%), but fails to meet the requirements of the state paying for it (0.5%), as required by the state of Virginia.
The judge estimated the cost of the recount to come out to $96,500, give or take, due to the sheer volume of the 5th congressional district, of which Good is the incumbent representative of.
“This race has always had national implications,” he said in a statement to the press afterwards. “I think it will impact Trump’s ability to win Virginia.”
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Former President Donald Trump notably endorsed Good’s opponent, McGuire, as opposed to the incumbent representative, despite Good being “one of the most conservative members of Congress”, as he calls himself.
Good said he doesn’t think the lack of presidential endorsement hindered his campaign.
“We would have won overwhelmingly without Trump’s endorsement,” he said in an interview with CBS 6.
When asked if he would accept the outcome of the recount, he said:
“We’ll worry about the ‘what-ifs’ after the recount if we don’t prevail.”
