Poll: John McGuire Opens Up 14-Point Lead over Rep. Bob Good in Virginia GOP Primary

Del. John McGuire -R Glen Allen, attends the VCDL rally on Jan. 16, 2023, at Capitol Squar
AP Photo/John C. Clark
Nick Gilbertson

State Sen. John McGuire (R-56) has taken a commanding lead over U.S. Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) in the GOP primary for Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District, according to an internal poll from McGuire’s campaign.

The poll, conducted for the campaign by Battleground Connect and first shared with Cardinal News, shows McGuire leading Good 45 percent to 31 percent, marking a major shift since December. Another 24 percent are undecided.

Good

Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) at the U.S. Capitol on March 22, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)

McGuire, who served as a Navy SEAL and started a small business when he returned to Virginia, has surged 21 points since the December Battleground Connect poll reported by the Virginia Star, while Good has lost 15 points of support since then. This marks a 36-point swing in five months toward McGuire and away from Good. McGuire’s campaign also provided that poll to the Star.

McGuire campaign spokesman Riley Bloch told Cardinal News in a statement that “[t]he results of this survey show what we already know — people are demanding better than Good.”

“Bob Good has alienated almost every segment of the party, not the least of which is the Trump base, by backstabbing President Trump and refusing to support him at the time of these unconstitutional, political indictments,” Bloch added.

Notably, Good backed Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) over former President Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary. This came after Trump endorsed Good in his unopposed primary in 2022. After DeSantis dropped out of the race following a second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, Good switched his endorsement to Trump.

McGuire, who has ardently supported Trump, called Good a “Never Trumper since Day 1” in an email after the congressman switched his endorsement to Trump, as CBS 19 news reported.

“Now Bob Good has come groveling back to Trump in order to save his own hide – friends, don’t trust him,” he added.

While Trump has not weighed in on the race with one of his highly influential endorsements, McGuire, who has the backing of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani, has been photographed with Trump at several events over recent months.

The poll sampled 504 likely GOP primary voters from May 2-5, and the margin of error is ± 4.4 percentage points.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.