FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — One of America’s most conservative congressmen is facing a serious primary challenge after his opponent was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, while voters in two other districts are nominating candidates to fill two open seats in Virginia’s primary election Tuesday.
Rep. Bob Good, who chairs the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, is seeking a third term representing Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, but state Sen. John McGuire has mounted a strong challenge that highlights frictions in the party.
On the Democratic side, voters are looking to nominate candidates who can hold open seats being vacated by popular incumbents Abigail Spanberger and Jennifer Wexton.
Statewide, voters are selecting a Republican nominee to the U.S. Senate to take on Democrat Tim Kaine.
Here’s a look at the major battles on the ballot:
Conventional politics might suggest a congressman with the conservative credentials of Good would be safe in a primary. But he earned the wrath of Trump when he endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president. He switched back to Trump after DeSantis dropped out, but Trump is endorsing McGuire and portraying Good as a backstabber.
Trump continued to bash Good as he campaigned for McGuire in a telephone rally Monday night.
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“Unlike Bob Good, John McGuire will not let you down,” Trump said, adding that McGuire is “strong on the border” and “will always defend your under-siege Second Amendment.”
Good, for his part, says he considers Trump the best president in his lifetime and only endorsed DeSantis because Trump is constitutionally limited to only one more term.
Good also alienated Republican insiders by voting to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, throwing the party into a measure of chaos.
Seeking to capitalize is McGuire, a state legislator and former Navy SEAL who has echoed Trump’s attacks on Good, calling him a “never Trumper.”
Good has bashed McGuire as a serial campaigner who announced his congressional bid just one week after winning election to a four-year term in the state Senate.
If Good loses, he would be the first House incumbent to go down to a primary challenge this year, with the exception of one race in which two incumbents faced off due to redistricting.
The winner will face one of three Democrats: Gloria Tinsley Witt, Gary Terry or Paul Riley.
The 5th Congressional District stretches from Charlottesville in the north, past the far western suburbs of Richmond, through Lynchburg and down to Danville and the North Carolina border.
Spanberger is giving up the seat in northern and central Virginia to run for governor in 2025. The district tilts just slightly blue, and seven Democrats are seeking the seat. Leading the field is political newcomer Eugene Vindman, a military veteran who gained a measure of fame for his role in Trump’s first impeachment. Four current and former elected officials — Briana Sewell, Margaret Franklin, Andrea Bailey and Elizabeth Guzman — are also in the race.
On the Republican side, fundraising figures suggest the top two contenders are Derrick Anderson and Cameron Hamilton. Anderson is a former Army Green Beret and Hamilton is a former Navy SEAL.
Wexton is not seeking reelection to her northern Virginia seat after being diagnosed with a rare, incurable neurological illness. The race to succeed her has attracted a field of 12 Democrats and four Republicans in a district that now tilts toward Democrats.
Democratic candidates include former Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, state Sens. Dan Helmer, Suhas Subramanyam and Jennifer Boysko, and former Virginia Education Secretary Atif Qarni. Wexton has endorsed Subramanyam.
Republicans include Aliscia Andrews, who ran for the seat four years ago, and lawyer Mike Clancy.
In the congressional district that spans Virginia’s coast, Missy Cotter Smasal and Jeremiah “Jake” Denton IV are competing for the Democratic nomination.
Smasal is a Navy veteran who runs a nonprofit that honors fallen servicewomen. Denton is a constitutional law and civil rights attorney who comes from a military family. Connection to the armed forces is often a calling card in the 2nd District, which is home to many veterans and several military installations and is adjacent to the nation’s largest Navy base in Norfolk.
The winner will take on Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, a former Navy helicopter pilot and state senator who was elected in 2022.
Five Republicans are vying for a chance to unseat Kaine, a former governor and vice-presidential candidate who is running unopposed for a third Senate term.
Hung Cao, a 25-year Navy veteran, has the most campaign money and past experience running for higher office among the five GOP contenders. He also has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, who stated that Cao would help stop inflation, secure the border and defend the Second Amendment.
The other Republican primary candidates are Scott Parkinson, Jonathan Emord, Eddie Garcia and Chuck Smith.
Parkinson was a congressional staffer for DeSantis. He now works for the conservative economic policy group Club for Growth. Emord is an author and lawyer who often cites his experience successfully fighting the Food and Drug Administration in court.
Garcia is a U.S. Army veteran and former Army liaison in Congress who owns a mobile app that serves military veterans. Smith is a Marine veteran, former Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps commander and an attorney.
Republicans say they smell political blood with President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket in November. But whoever takes on Kaine will face an uphill battle in a state that hasn’t sent a Republican to the U.S. Senate since 2002.
Finley contributed to this report from Norfolk.
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