Bob Good to resign early as House Freedom Caucus chair if his election recount is unsuccessful

Rep. Bob Good is prepared to step down as chair of the House Freedom Caucus if the recount in his tightly contested primary race doesn’t reverse his loss.

Members of the conservative group are already mulling over who could replace him.

Mr. Good, Virginia Republican, is on the losing end of his primary contest against Virginia state Sen. John McGuire, who claimed victory with a razor-thin margin of 374 votes when election results were announced earlier this month.

“I told the board a few weeks back that if I didn’t win my primary, I will step down as chair. I’d stay on the board, but I’d step down as chair,” Mr. Good told The Washington Times. “And I told the entire membership at our meeting Monday night.”

Mr. Good said his campaign filed a recount petition on Thursday but was unsure how long the process would take.

He would become the first Freedom Caucus chair to lose a primary election and be replaced less than halfway through the two-year term.

Mr. Good’s election woes already had other repercussions for the Freedom Caucus.

Rep. Warren Davidson, Ohio Republican, was ousted from the caucus on Monday for publicly supporting Mr. Good’s opponent. Rep. Troy Nehls, Texas Republican, resigned in protest of Mr. Davidson’s dismissal. 

The caucus, founded out of the tea party movement in 2015, has been a thorn in the side of House GOP leadership from the start and continues to push Republicans to more aggressively pursue conservative goals.

A change in Freedom Caucus leadership is expected to be more about the style than the direction of the group’s agenda.

Freedom Caucus member Rep. Eric Burlison, Missouri Republican, said several members of the caucus are ready to take over the leadership role.

“I think a wise move for right now would be to ask a former chair of the Freedom Caucus to step in and serve out the remainder of Bob’s term, or until we have a new Congress, so we can have an election with the new members,” he said. 

Three former Freedom Caucus chairs still serve in Congress: Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who served as the first chair, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Burlison said that having a good relationship with former President Donald Trump would also help the next chair. 

Mr. Trump endorsed Mr. Good’s opponent, launching a one-sided feud against the lawmaker. Mr. Trump accused Mr. Good of betraying him because he initially endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP presidential race.

One member of the Freedom Caucus whose name has surfaced as a possible new chairman is Rep. Andy Ogles, Tennessee Republican. Mr. Ogles said he supports Mr. Good but would “absolutely” appreciate the opportunity to serve as chair of the caucus.

He also has a good relationship with the former president.

“Fortunately, I’m very close to Donald Trump and his team, and I think that’s an advantage to whoever the chairman is,” Mr. Ogles said. “Whether that’s a current chairman or a future chairman.”

One quality that former members of the caucus believed to be the most important for Mr. Good’s replacement was the ability to work with Republican leaders to advance conservative policy priorities rather than clash with other House Republicans and the leadership team.

“You have to have a good relationship with people up here so you can get your agenda done. You can’t, you can’t always have conflict,” Mr. Nehls said. “That’s not going to help you.”