The Republican State Central Committee sent letters to local committee chairs and some of their members in the 5th Congressional District asking them to affirm their support for state Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland, the district’s congressional nominee.
Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) Chair Rich Anderson confirmed the letter was sent to roughly 12 local party members within VA-05 after concerns were expressed by the executive committee for the Republican State Central Committee.
These concerns stemmed from an open letter signed by several local Republican committee members asking Donald Trump to revoke his endorsement of McGuire over Rep. Bob Good for the June primary election, Anderson says.
The primary contest between Good and McGuire was contentious from the start.
In the open letter to Trump, a majority of VA-05’s local unit chairs expressed their specific concerns with McGuire.
“We the undersigned leaders of the 5th District Republican Congressional Committee strongly urge President Donald Trump to reconsider his endorsement of Congressman Bob Good’s opponent in the Republican Primary,” the letter reads.
“The Congressman’s opponent has a history of lying to the voters and only representing his own ambitions rather than the needs of his constituents,” it continued. “In 2023, he repeatedly told voters that he would not run against Congressman Bob Good only to file to run for Congress less than 2 weeks after he was elected to the Virginia Senate and before he was even sworn into office.”
Despite the letter, Trump stuck by McGuire, helping him squeak out a narrow victory over Good.
McGuire’s campaign declined to comment for this story. Good’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
RPV wants to keep this typically reliable Republican seat in its hands by avoiding low turnout or ticket splitting in November.
Some hardline Republicans refuse to accept McGuire as their nominee, according to reporting from the Virginia Mercury, and are encouraging people to write in Good on when they vote.
It would take a strong movement from Good’s supporters for Democrats to flip this seat.
According to VPAP analysis, Good won this district by 15 points in 2022 and Glenn Youngkin by 21 points in 2021.
Virginia Scope reached out to several individuals who signed the open letter to Trump to ask if they were required to sign a form supporting McGuire. None of them responded to the email request prior to this story being published.
Anderson says some party chairs and members have already returned the letters affirming their support for McGuire and that he is “fairly certain” all of them will be returned by next week.