House Freedom Caucus chair locked in close Virginia primary count with Trump-backed challenger
House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, who angered allies of former President Donald Trump and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, was trailing state Sen. John McGuire by 342 votes as of Wednesday morning in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District – a margin small enough for a second-place finisher to call for a recount should it hold. Mail ballots can continue to arrive until Friday.
Good announced on social media Tuesday night that his team was still awaiting final election results.
“We executed the best early voting operation the 5th District has ever seen, and we are still waiting for the results of mail-in ballots and provisional ballots. We have teams of observers and legal counsel to ensure all votes are properly counted in the coming days,” the congressman said.
McGuire, endorsed by Trump and McCarthy, was already looking ahead to November.
“There are still a few votes left to count, but it’s clear that all paths end with a victory,” the state senator wrote on social media early Wednesday morning. “I look forward to working with Trump to beat Joe Biden in November and advance Trump’s agenda in Congress.”
Good faced a strong challenge from a wide range of the GOP, leading to the most expensive House Republican primary of the cycle. As a key player in the move to oust McCarthy last fall, Good angered the former speaker’s allies, who spent millions seeking retribution. Additionally, Good lost Trump’s support after endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential primary
Key Trump impeachment figure will win Democratic primary for open Virginia seat
Eugene Vindman, a retired Army colonel and key figure in Trump’s first impeachment, is projected to win the Democratic primary for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, according to CNN.
Vindman aims to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger in what promises to be a competitive race this fall, with the House GOP’s narrow majority at stake. Derrick Anderson, a retired Army Green Beret, is projected to secure the Republican nomination to face Vindman in the 7th District, which includes the Washington, DC, suburbs.
Eugene Vindman and his twin brother, retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, are renowned for their involvement in Trump’s impeachment after raising concerns about a 2019 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In this call, Trump allegedly requested an investigation into Hunter Biden, the son of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden.
lexander Vindman was a key witness during the 2020 impeachment hearings, and the Vindman brothers became celebrated figures among Democratic activists opposing Trump.
Eugene Vindman’s role in Trump’s impeachment likely bolstered his campaign. Despite most of his primary opponents being current and former elected officials, the first-time candidate raised $5 million by May 29, federal records show. This amount was nearly four times the combined total of the other six Democrats in the race.
Spanberger, the retiring congresswoman, is leaving her seat to run for governor next year. A former CIA officer, she won her third term in 2022 by 5 points.
### Cole Wins Oklahoma Primary
Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, the veteran Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, is projected to easily defeat a primary challenge in the state’s 4th Congressional District, according to CNN.
Cole is expected to win a four-way primary that included insurance broker Paul Bondar, who loaned his campaign over $5 million by May 29 and saturated the airwaves with ads.
Cole, a seasoned GOP operative, had Trump’s endorsement. Bondar positioned himself as a more conservative alternative to Cole, even airing ads to undermine Cole’s ties to Trump by highlighting donations Cole made to Trump’s 2024 GOP primary rivals before they declared their candidacies.
First elected to Congress in 2002, Cole has maintained strong ties to House conservatives and voted against certifying certain 2020 election results and against both impeachments of Trump.
“He has almost always voted with me, including on both Impeachment Hoaxes,” Trump said in his early May endorsement of Cole.
One notable aspect of the race was Bondar’s recent connection to Oklahoma. After spending most of his career in Illinois, Bondar moved to Texas in 2020, residing near Dallas, where he voted in the March Republican primary. He launched his congressional campaign in Oklahoma in April. State voting records show Bondar’s early in-person ballot in the primary race was his first vote in Oklahoma. Cole’s allies ran ads questioning Bondar’s residency.
The pro-Cole Americans 4 Security super PAC aired a 30-second ad comparing the primary to the Red River rivalry between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas, emphasizing Cole’s longstanding Oklahoma ties and portraying Bondar as an outsider trying to buy an Oklahoma congressional seat.
“Don’t let a Longhorn try to take our Sooner seat,” the ad declared, referring to the two schools’ mascots.
Bondar’s campaign responded with an ad asserting that he owns a home in Oklahoma and has purchased a 500-acre property in Caddo to build his dream home. The ad featured the previous owner, Cheyenne Stanley, confirming the sales to Bondar about two years ago.
This headline and story have been updated.
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