Rep. Bob Good has served two terms as Charlottesville's representative. Supplied photo.
Countdown
The Virginia Department of Elections has certified primary election results, calling the 5th District in favor of challenger John McGuire on July 2. Incumbent Rep. Bob Good is expected to call for a recount in the coming days, with the deadline to file fast approaching.
While McGuire declared victory shortly after the June 18 primary, razor-thin margins left the race too close to call prior to certification. DOE counts show McGuire eked out a win over Good by just 374 votes.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin congratulated and endorsed McGuire shortly after results were certified. “John is a patriot and will be a great congressman,” shared Youngkin on X/Twitter. “I fully endorse him and look forward to his victory in November.”
Though the primary results have been certified, the Good campaign isn’t down for the count yet. The congressman and his team have publicly questioned the integrity of the election and indicated he will call for a recount.
With the final vote totals coming in at 49.7 and 50.3 percent for Good and McGuire respectively, the results are well within the one percent margin needed for a recount. The 0.6 percent margin is just shy of the cutoff for the state to pay for the recount, meaning Good’s campaign will have to foot the bill.
Good has until July 12—10 days after the election results were officially certified—to file for a recount.
“Republican voters across the 5th District deserve to know that all legal votes have been accurately counted,” shared Good on X/Twitter on July 2. “We will vigorously pursue that objective over the coming days and weeks, as permitted by Virginia law.”
If the tally comes out in McGuire’s favor, Good will be the first Republican incumbent to lose a primary this election cycle.
As of press time, Good’s Campaign Director Diana Shores has not responded to a request for comment.
Given the rightward lean of the district, whichever candidate is named the Republican nominee is expected to win the November general election. Both Good and McGuire are extremely conservative, though the latter does not have a formal policy or platform section on his campaign website.
The winner of the Republican primary will face Democratic nominee Gloria Witt on Election Day, November 5, 2024.
The name game
File photo.
Three Charlottesville schools will have new names this upcoming school year. Venable and Clark elementary schools will be renamed to Trailblazer Elementary and Summit Elementary respectively. The Charlottesville Albemarle Technical Education Center will retain its acronym, but with a slight change to Charlottesville Area Technical Education Center. New permanent signage is expected this August.
Higher hires
Graduate Student Workers at the University of Virginia have reached an agreement with administration following a months-long Cut the Checks campaign by the United Campus Workers of Virginia. According to the UVA branch of UCW, university leadership has agreed to hire nine to 10 new financial and administrative staff for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. “We will continue to keep a watchful eye on UVA’s executive administration’s actions, particularly on increases in department staff compensation, any further late or delayed payments, and the completion of these new hires before the end of the academic year,” shared @UCWVAUVA on X/Twitter on July 3.
Sad news
Local activist Brenda “Bee” Lambert died in an apparent suicide pact she entered with her husband James Shea Jr., who is being treated at UVA Hospital and is now in stable condition. Charlottesville Police discovered the elderly couple when conducting a welfare check at their home on Monte Vista Avenue on July 4. While Lambert was pronounced dead at the scene, Shea was transported to the hospital with serious injuries. CPD is still investigating the incident and has indicated no further details will be released at this time.
Bob Good was first elected to Congress in 2020.
Supplied photo.
More than a week after election day, the results of the Republican primary in Virginia’s 5th district remain up in the air. After a campaign riddled with barbs between incumbent Bob Good and state Senator John McGuire, election day saw a razor-thin margin between the two ultra-conservatives.
Things in the 5th district have been ramping up for months and fully kicked into overdrive when Donald Trump endorsed McGuire in late May. Though Good has since endorsed Trump’s 2024 bid for the presidency, his original backing of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis soured him to Trump loyalists in the Republican party.
“Bob Good is BAD FOR VIRGINIA, AND BAD FOR THE USA,” Trump shared in a May 28 Truth Social post formally endorsing McGuire. “He turned his back on our incredible movement and was constantly attacking and fighting me until recently.”
Between the Trump endorsement and McGuire’s accelerated fundraising leading up to the primary, Miles Coleman, associate editor of the Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, says, “If there was any surprise here, it’s that Good held up as well as he did. … For [Good] only to lose by a relative handful of votes, I think that says something about how resilient he was.”
Vote totals point toward a narrow victory for McGuire, but Good has told constituents not to count him out yet.
“This race remains too close to call,” Good posted on X/Twitter on June 19. “We are asking for full transparency from the officials involved and patience from the people of the 5th District over the coming weeks as the certification of results is completed. We believe we can still prevail.”
Since election day, Good and his supporters have become increasingly critical of the results, with the congressman blaming election fraud for his potential loss. Campaign Manager Diana Shores repeated these claims in a comment via email, citing concerns around procedural issues in Albemarle County, Buckingham County, and Lynchburg.
McGuire’s team has not addressed the allegations of election fraud in the 5th district primary. The challenger declared victory just after midnight on June 19, well before any election results could be verified.
“My life is a testament to the fact that America is the greatest country on this planet and I’m so honored to have the chance to serve her again,” McGuire shared on X/Twitter. “Folks in the 5th can rest assured that should they elect me in Nov., they will have an effective fighter in Congress who will get the job done for them.”
As of press time, the results of the race have not been certified, but Good has preemptively called for a recount and investigation of election practices. He has also cited concerns about fires at three precincts on election day. No actual fires occurred at the precincts, though election officials told ABC 13 that fire alarms were triggered at three precincts. Voting access was reportedly restored at each location within 30 minutes.
Current counts have McGuire ahead by 344 votes.
“There is a saying among poll workers: May your turnout be high and your margins wide,” says Coleman. “This election kind of had neither, because it was fairly low turnout and … the margin obviously isn’t wide.”
Accusations of election fraud aren’t common among members of the same party, but both Good and McGuire have a history of election denial. Both candidates publicly questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, with McGuire attending a “Stop the Steal” event on January 6, 2021, and Good voting against certifying election results as a member of the House.
If Good ends up losing the primary, Coleman says it’s anyone’s guess whether he doubles down as an “agent of chaos” or tries to improve his relationship with Republican leadership in anticipation of future campaign efforts.
While either McGuire or Good will still have to face Democratic primary winner Gloria Witt in November, whoever wins the Republican primary is likely to win the general election, according to Coleman.
“I would still put [VA-5 as] safe Republican,” he says. “This is a district where the Democrats can get maybe 45 to 46 percent of the vote pretty easily, but getting much past that is hard. … The last time this [district] flipped to a Democrat was in ‘08 with Tom Perriello.”
Control of the House of Representatives is expected to be close between the two parties this year, leading Democrats to focus resources on more competitive races.
“From the Democratic perspective, they have a few targets in Virginia that are kind of sexier,” says Coleman. “They very much want to oust Kiggans in the Virginia Beach area. District 7, the Spanberger seat, well that is a blue district, but one that they can’t take for granted.”
As of press time, a timeline for the recount in the VA-5 Republican primary has not been announced.
Will Trump-endorsed John McGuire take the 5th district seat from incumbent Bob Good? Only time (and voters) will tell.
Supplied photos.
As the Republican primary in Virginia’s 5th district reaches a conclusion on June 18, a poll released by the Virginia Faith & Freedom Coalition shows Virginia Senator John McGuire (R-Goochland) with a 10 percent lead over his opponent, incumbent Rep. Bob Good (R-VA).
Despite Good’s position as the head of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and his professed loyalty to the GOP shot-caller, former President and recently convicted felon Donald Trump, his endorsement of presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in early May seems to have been what soured the Trump loyalists against his campaign. McGuire received the former president’s seal of approval on May 28, quickly capitalizing on Trump’s popularity in the deeply red 5th district as the former president’s account on his Truth Social platform accused Good of being “BAD for Virginia” and saying he had “turned his back on our incredible movement.”
A little over 48 hours after this endorsement of his opponent, Good’s problems appeared to only get worse, as Trump’s lawyers sent the Congressman a cease-and-desist letter over campaign signage featuring both Good’s and Trump’s names, accusing Good of being “a fraud.”
“It has come to our attention that your campaign is producing yard signs purporting to indicate President Trump’s endorsement of your candidacy,” the letter from attorney David Warrington read. “You know that is false. In fact, President Trump has endorsed your opponent, John McGuire.”
Many residents of the 5th district will likely know that the signs in question predate the endorsement of McGuire and are reportedly from the 2022 campaign, in which Bob Good had the endorsement of the former president; nevertheless, there are unconfirmed reports that the signs bearing both names are still being distributed at campaign events in the area.
As the primary entered its final weeks, it appeared to be smooth sailing for McGuire, who has run in successive elections in recent years at both the federal and state levels. Then, on June 6, an open letter was released from the 5th District Republican Committee to Trump bearing the signatures of prominent local Republicans, urging the former president to reconsider his endorsement.
“[McGuire] has a history of lying to the voters and only representing his own ambitions rather than the needs of his constituents. 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,” the letter read.
McGuire was elected first in 2017, running a successful campaign for the 56th district of the House of Delegates against Democrat Melissa Dart. Then, in 2019, he ran for reelection successfully against Democrat Juanita Jo Matkins and again in 2021. In 2020 and 2022, he launched unsuccessful bids for U.S. Congress in the 7th district, losing to Nick Freitas and Yesli Vega, respectively, both of whom would go on to lose the general election to Rep. Abigail Spanberger. In 2023, he ran for State Senate unopposed in District 10, and while his promises of not running against Good are unconfirmed, he did announce one week after winning his seat—and prior to taking his oath of office—that he was running for the 5th District of Virginia in the United States Congress.
McGuire, a veteran and owner of a personal training company called Seal Team Physical Training, wouldn’t be the first primary challenger to make headlines by upsetting a powerful congressional Republican. In 2014, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was upset by Republican and Randolph-Macon Professor Dave Brat. That election made national headlines and was described by the LA Times as “one of the greatest political upsets in modern times,” with Cantor out-spending Brat 40-to-1.
According to VPAP, as of March 31, Good had raised $855,792 to McGuire’s $496,447. Their expenditure data was not yet available at press time, but independent expenditures—money that third party groups had spent to run ads for or against one of the candidates—totaled to almost $8.5 million. Pro-McGuire and anti-Good ads totaled to just over $5 million, and pro-Good/anti-McGuire ads accounted for the other $3.5.
Andre Henline, a Louisa County business owner and long-time Republican, said that he was “team McGuire.” When asked if he could articulate why, he said that it was a combination of McGuire’s personal touch and Good’s incessant attack ads.
“I’ve met [McGuire] a handful of times in Mineral,” he said. “[Good’s] campaign is bugging the shit out of me. His campaign smearing [the opponent] really turns me off.”
Neither candidate is without controversy. McGuire’s presence at the January 6 riot at the capitol—though he says he never entered the capitol building—has been a frequent point of contention for his detractors. Good, however, is a proud member of what is informally called the “Sedition Caucus,” a disparaging nickname for the members of the house and senate who voted not to certify the election of Joe Biden. Former Capitol Police Officer Michael Fanone recently said publicly that both Good and McGuire should be barred from holding public office because of their support of the former president’s actions in 2020.
The winner of the Republican primary will face off against one of the three Democrats—Paul Riley, Gary Terry, and Gloria Tinsley Witt—running in the Democratic primary, which also ends June 18.
Neither Republican candidate returned repeated messages seeking comment in time for publication.
Political ads targeting Rep. Bob Good, who’s facing a primary challenge this year, have hit the airwaves. Image by Virginians for Conservative Leadership Pac.
Election season is in full swing for Rep. Bob Good, who’s faced barbs from his challenger, substantial intra-party criticism, and an all-but-declaration-of-war from the Trump campaign. But despite these hurdles, Good says he is confident the constituents of Virginia’s 5th District will “get it right” in the June primary.
The two-term incumbent faces a primary challenge from state Sen. John McGuire, who has criticized Good for his endorsement of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over former president Donald Trump. Though Good endorsed Trump following DeSantis’ decision to drop out of the race, McGuire remains critical.
“Bob Good has come groveling back to Trump in order to save his own hide—friends, don’t trust him,” wrote McGuire in a January 21 post on Twitter/X. “He’ll stab Trump in the back again the first chance he gets. Never Trumper Bob Good is only good for Joe Biden, not for the patriots of Virginia’s 5th Congressional District.”
McGuire has also called Good a RINO (Republican in Name Only) on several occasions, regardless of the congressman’s position as chair of the Freedom Caucus.
In an interview with C-VILLE, Good denied McGuire’s characterizations. “He is lying for political purposes, he thinks it gives him some kind of advantage to say that, but I think everybody sees through what he’s doing,” Good says. “Everybody knows that I’m one of the most, if not the most, conservative member of Congress. There’s a reason why the most conservative caucus in the House of Representatives elected me as their chairman, and I have consistently fought for our conservative principles.”
“I trust the folks in the 5th District to get it right,” he says. “I expect that they will re-nominate me and elect me again in November.”
Despite Good’s confidence in his conservatism, the congressman has recently come under fire from both moderate and far-right Republicans.
Republican critics of Good include Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Trump Campaign Manager Chris LaCivita.
In a text message published by Cardinal News, LaCivita said, “Bob Good won’t be electable when we get done with him.”
When asked for a response to LaCivita’s comment, Good told C-VILLE he “never met that gentleman” and would not directly respond to questions about his communications with the Trump campaign.
Antagonism from the Trump campaign may spell major trouble for Good this primary season, according to Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, the University of Virginia Center for Politics’ newsletter.
Though Good has now endorsed the former president, his earlier backing of DeSantis may continue to incite criticisms from the Trump campaign. “Trump and his allies are not exactly known for burying the hatchet,” says Kondik.
Trump endorsed Good in 2022, and while the former president has not come out in favor of a candidate in the 2024 contest for Virginia’s 5th District, Good’s campaign website claims a Trump endorsement.
“Most primary challengers have no shot,” Kondik says. “McGuire is a real challenger with real support, and Good has made some enemies within his party.”
While Trump has not formally endorsed McGuire, LaCivita’s comment is an indicator to Kondik that “there will be an aggressive campaign waged on McGuire’s behalf against Good.”
Political ads targeting Good are already rolling out, including one from the Virginians for Conservative Leadership Political Action Committee. The group questions Good’s loyalty to Trump in its video, and further criticizes the congressman for focusing on “political theater” over the needs of constituents on its website nogoodbob.com.
“That PAC is neither conservative, or … from Virginia,” says Good. “If you’re trying to be deceptive and dishonest and try to smear someone, then you use a name for yourself that might convey a different impression than what the truth really is.”
Virginians for Conservative Leadership has a mailing address in Hudson, Wisconsin, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission. C-VILLE could not independently confirm the PAC’s political leanings.
For all of the animosity between McGuire and Good, the two Republicans have overlapping political platforms. Both candidates oppose abortion and gun control laws, and support Christian principles on their campaign websites. The most notable distinction between the candidates’ campaign websites is the level of detail on policy issues. McGuire is more vague, referencing a support for “conservative values” and “Christian conservative values,” while Good outlines his views on immigration and the economy, among other issues.
Regardless of who wins the nomination, Kondik says Republicans will most likely win the 5th District seat in the general election. “Virginia’s 5th District is not overwhelmingly Republican,” he says, “but it is Republican enough that any GOP nominee should be fine in November.”
Early in-person voting in Virginia’s congressional primaries will begin on May 3 at local registrars’ offices, with Primary Election Day on June 18.
Fifth District Rep. Bob Good was named chair of the House Freedom Caucus on December 11, and will start the job in January. For years, the Freedom Caucus has played a prominent role in congressional politics, including the ouster of former House speaker Kevin McCarthy and the lengthy process to elect a replacement speaker.
In a press release announcing his appointment, Good said, “I look forward to building on the work [Scott Perry] has done and continuing the fight to reduce government spending, secure our borders, and defend our constitutional freedoms.” The Virginia representative will replace Pennsylvania Congressman Perry as chair of the ultra-conservative caucus.
Good was elected to Congress in 2020, and has gained significant influence amid a divided Republican party. Though his new leadership position may bolster his national prominence, the local impact of Good’s chairmanship is likely to be limited, according to University of Virginia Crystal Ball Editor Kyle Kondik.
Rather than give him direct access to additional resources for Virginia’s 5th District, Good’s appointment affords him additional political sway within Congress, due to the narrow Republican majority in the House.
“The Freedom Caucus as a group does exert some power within the Republican Conference,” says Kondik. “There’s a lot of must-pass bills that have come down the pike this past year. And typically, the majority party is the one that’s on the hook for providing the votes for that. But the Republicans haven’t had party unity on a lot of these things.”
Newly elected Delegate John McGuire announced he will challenge Good for the Republican congressional nomination in 2024, partially due to Good’s lack of support for former president Donald Trump. Good, however, may get a boost from his new position in the primary election. “Given that primary electorates can be kind of ideological, [it] may be helpful to Good that he’s in with the Freedom Caucus,” says Kondik. “It’s gonna be harder to get to his right.”
Virginia’s 5th District is pretty safely Republican, meaning Good is unlikely to be defeated in the 2024 general election—but the congressman’s new position could bolster a Democratic challenger. “Certainly the case that Democrats would make against Bob Good is just that he’s too far right, even for a conservative leaning district,” says Kondik. “Maybe it’s easier to make that kind of argument when he’s in charge of the Freedom Caucus.”
In brief
Civic duty
The City of Charlottesville announced that it intends to fill a vacancy on the Police Civilian Oversight Board, and that applications are open to the public. The PCOB monitors the Charlottesville Police Department, with a stated mission of promoting transparency, fair policing, and the protection of citizens’ civil rights. Anyone interested in serving on the board, can apply through the Charlottesville Boards and Commissions Vacancies webpage by February 29, 2024.
Special invite
University of Virginia rower Sky Dahl was invited to January’s 2024 Paralympic Selection Camp. Dahl, a junior, is one of 13 athletes participating in the camp, which selects the rowers who will represent the United States in the 2024 Paralympic Games, held in Paris from August 31 to September 1. The camp will host the athletes in Sarasota, Florida.
Sky Dahl. Photo by UVA Athletics.
New rep
The Albemarle County School Board has selected a new representative for the Rio Magisterial District, after the seat was vacated when Katrina Callsen resigned to run for a House of Delegates seat. Charles Pace, a former Albemarle County Public Schools teacher and central office administrator, will fill the role. Pace taught biology and chemistry at Albemarle High School, served as K-12 science instructional coordinator, and as science department chairperson for Blue Ridge School. Despite his recent appointment, he may face competition in November, as the Rio seat will be up for grabs at the next general election.
A Virginia House of Delegates subcommittee killed school funding bills Friday that would’ve allowed localities to raise money for school construction, voting 5-3 on all three bills. Similar legislation was passed by the state Senate.
The Republican-controlled House’s action looms large in Charlottesville: City Council has expressed that finding new revenue streams is a key step in a long-awaited school reconfiguration process. The bills would’ve given Charlottesville the ability to increase sales taxes by up to 1 percent if approved by voters. According to city officials, that increase would bring in an additional $12 million annually toward the reconfiguration of Walker Upper Elementary and Buford Middle schools, a project that has been debated for over a decade and is expected to cost $75 million in its first phase, reports The Daily Progress.
Buford Middle School currently houses students in seventh and eighth grades, but the new plan would move sixth graders from Walker Upper Elementary, which currently serves students in fifth and sixth grades, into Buford. Fifth graders would return to elementary schools, and Walker would be transformed into an early education center. The reason for the renovation and expansion of Buford is to decrease difficulties associated with transitioning into middle school, and modernize the over 50-year-old building.
Delegate Sally Hudson, who sponsored some of the bills that were rejected by the subcommittee, tweeted after the meeting that the bills wouldn’t have affected localities that didn’t want an increase in sales taxes.
“The bills simply gave local govts the right to ask their voters for a referendum to fund school construction,” Hudson wrote. “Virginia’s Dillon Rule handcuffs us again, and kids pay the price.”
Gun-rights activist will challenge Bob Good
The father of a journalist who was killed on live TV is seeking the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District.
Andy Parker. Supplied photo
Andy Parker’s 24-year-old daughter Alison was shot to death by a former employee at her news station, Roanoke’s WDBJ, while doing a live report in Moneta, Virginia, in August 2015. Following the tragedy, Parker embarked on a journey to “do whatever it takes to end gun violence,” becoming an activist for the enactment of tighter gun safety laws.
The focus of his current campaign, however, is regulation of the tech industry, specifically preventing the abuse of social media platforms, which had failed to remove content depicting his daughter’s murder. Parker hopes to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, something that protects tech companies from being liable for what their users post.
“I had a choice to retreat into my grief or honor Alison’s life through action. I chose the latter,” Parker tweeted in an announcement of his run for Congress.
The seat is currently occupied by Republican Bob Good, a strong supporter of gun rights.
Hudson and Freitas spar in the House
While in power over the last two years, Virginia Democrats passed legislation that would incrementally increase the state’s minimum wage, from its 2020 rate of $7.25 an hour up to $12 an hour in 2023. Republicans, now in control of the House of Delegates, are trying to repeal some of that legislation. In a hearing on Monday, area delegates Sally Hudson and Nick Freitas clashed over the effects of the proposed minimum wage increase.
“I think it’s somewhat arrogant for us to assume that we should negotiate on [the workers’] behalf,” said Freitas, an Army veteran and Republican who represents Culpeper. ”Especially to the point where we’re essentially engaging in price fixing within the labor market, telling someone that wants a job, that may need a job, that may have found a job, they’re not allowed to have it unless we’ve approved of what their wage is going to be.”
Hudson, who teaches economics at UVA, saw fit to respond.
“In the face of a noncompetitive market, there is scope for government to intervene and level the playing field and generate gains for the greater good of all,” she said. “That simple belief that raising the minimum wage hurts workers is an article of faith, not an economic fact.”
“You need a little bit more than Economics 101 to understand the consequences of a policy like this for the people we serve,” Hudson continued. “You see, Bio 101 isn’t enough to make a doctor, and you can’t build a bridge with Physics 101 alone. So too with economics.”—C-VILLE Staff
IX is up for grabs—or not
Eighty-four million dollars will buy you a 230-foot superyacht. Or four years of professional basketball from UVA and Indiana Pacers star Malcolm Brogdon. Or…IX Art Park?
Last week, the property, which is owned by local real estate mogul Ludwig Kuttner and Allan Cadgene, was listed for sale in two separate parcels. The two plots total 17-and-a-half acres, and cost more than $4,800,000 per acre.
“City Center” lot
“Ix Project” lot
[The property owners] have received a significant amount of unsolicited interest in the future of undeveloped portions of the IX property. Photos: Charlottesville MLS
That price far outstrips the city’s recent assessment of the property. One of the two parcels, called IX Project in the listing, is a six-acre space that contains the Three Notch’d and Looking Glass exhibit building. In 2022 the city assessed the IX Project property at $5.6 million. The listing has that same chunk of land priced at more than $19 million.
“Great opportunity for primary economic development, Tech Campus, superior mixed-use,” reads the listing for the larger of the two plots. “Various opportunities for land development/redevelopment. Infill development opportunities desired!”
The IX owners released a statement on Friday afternoon, clarifying their short-term plans for the space.
“Ix Art Park Foundation continues business as usual despite property listing misinformation,” they wrote. “Recently, [the property owners] have received a significant amount of unsolicited interest in the future of undeveloped portions of the IX property…The owners are hopeful that their decision to formally list the IX property with a broker will help generate new ideas that will positively impact Charlottesville.”
“There is no plan to demolish existing buildings or displace current tenants,” the statement concludes.—C-VILLE Staff
In brief
Rezoning begins
In November, City Council approved the new Comprehensive Plan, a broad set of goals for development in the coming years. Now, the same consultants who steered the Comprehensive Plan process must conduct a parcel-by-parcel review of the city’s zoning, to ensure the zoning matches the goals laid out in the larger plan. That rezoning began last week, and will take more than a year. The Comprehensive Plan adoption process wasn’t always pretty—many residents opposed some of the more permissive building rules the plan proposed. The zoning rewrite will surely be met with similar opposition, so watch this space for all the drama in the coming months.
Colleges can’t mandate vax, says AG
State colleges and universities can’t require coronavirus vaccines for students, says a legal opinion from new Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. According to Miyares, the law does not say public institutions can mandate vaccinations “as a condition of enrollment or in-person attendance.” While the General Assembly authorized institutions to help administer the vaccines, institutions were not given the power to impose mandates, he said. UVA, which has already mandated vaccinations and boosters for its students, has said that it will continue to encourage students to get boosters but will not disenroll any students who haven’t yet done so.
Retreat yourself
Charlottesville’s new City Council got to know each other at a full-day retreat last Wednesday. From 9am to 4pm, the councilors discussed the annual budget process, how to work with the city staff, and proper procedures for running a City Council marathon session. Oh, the joys of local bureaucracy!
From the very beginning of his campaign, 5th District Representative Bob Good has identified himself as a Trump-loving, Bible-thumping hardcore conservative. He opposes LGBTQ+ equality and abortion rights. He is hard on immigration and asylum seekers. He loves guns and police. Good is now six months into his two-year term. Thus far, the votes he’s cast and legislation he’s introduced have reflected his state priorities, though none of the 19 bills he’s introduced have made it through their committees.
In a controversial drive-thru convention last June, Good—a former Campbell County supervisor, Liberty University athletics fundraiser, and a wrestling coach—defeated former Representative Denver Riggleman, accusing him of not being conservative enough after Riggleman officiated a gay wedding in 2019. Good went on to beat Democrat Dr. Cameron Webb in November by about five points.
In January, Good kicked off his term by formally rejecting the results of the 2020 presidential election, joining eight Republican senators and more than 100 Republican representatives in accusing the Democrats of committing massive election fraud and stealing the race from Trump. (Federal and state judges have found no evidence supporting these claims.) Right after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Good continued to push for the exclusion of several states won by Democrats from the Electoral College tally.
More recently, Good voted against creating a federal commission to investigate the insurrection, and awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol. During the attack, over 140 officers were injured. One later died from his injuries, and two died by suicide.
Over the past six months, Good has continuously voted against legislation proposed by Democrats, including bills prohibiting discrimination based on sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation; expanding voting, unionization, and collective bargaining rights; requiring background checks for all gun sales; creating a path to citizenship for DREAMERS; providing people detained while entering the country with legal counsel; making Washington, D.C., a state; protecting pregnant and older employees from workplace discrimination; and providing contraceptives to veterans without co-pays.
Good has voted with President Joe Biden just 3 percent of the time over the last six months, according to FiveThirtyEight’s congressional tracker. That places him among the most conservative quarter of the Republican caucus. The only vote Good and the President have agreed on is a bill to repeal the 2002 authorization of military force in Iraq.
In the wake of increased violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Good also refused to support the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which aims to make reporting hate crimes easier. And following last year’s protests against police brutality and systemic racism, he voted down the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which intends to increase accountability for law-enforcement misconduct.
Good’s 19 bills have included banning the use of federal funds for the Central American Minors Program; treating silencers the same as firearms accessories; requiring that schools disclose negotiations with teacher unions to receive relief funds; preventing states and local jurisdictions from interfering with worship services; and outlawing asylum for migrants who have been convicted of a crime.
Good has also gotten cozy with fellow far-right conservatives like QAnon conspiracy theorist Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. He joined Taylor Greene’s calls to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci and her protests against the House’s mask mandate. Good himself has refused to disclose whether he’s gotten vaccinated.
The representative’s disdain for pandemic safety measures comes as no surprise—during a Trump rally in December, Good praised the maskless crowd for knowing “that this is a phony pandemic.” The coronavirus had killed nearly 300,000 people in the U.S. at the time, including more than 300 in the 5th District.
Last month, Good made headlines again when he peppered Education Secretary Miguel Cardona with questions about critical race theory during a virtual House hearing. While Good pushed Cardona to ensure the federal government would not challenge state laws banning the teaching of critical race theory, New Jersey Democratic Representative Donald Norcross’ screen popped up, and someone shouted “racist!”
Next year, Good will already have at least one challenger. Last month, Brunswick-based farmer Kimberly Lowe announced that she’s running for the 5th District seat. However, she seems to agree with Good on some things—protecting Second Amendment rights and ensuring election integrity are two of her top priorities.
At the beginning of May, the Cville Plans Together team—a group of consultants hired to rewrite the city’s zoning code—shared a draft of a Future Land Use Map, a document that will help guide the city’s growth in the coming decades by identifying which areas could support increased housing density.
The map has attracted tons of attention from city residents. Some homeowners in wealthy neighborhoods have opposed the map’s strategy, arguing that allowing apartments to be built in neighborhoods currently full of single-family homes will have deleterious effects on property values and neighborhood character. Others, meanwhile, say that the map isn’t proactive enough, and could be even more aggressive in making space for sorely needed new homes.
The team of consultants had initially announced it would take comments on the map through the month of May, but extended the deadline to mid-June at the request of city residents. The consultants will now begin reviewing the more than 1,300 emails they’ve received, as well as 900 comments on the interactive map and 400 responses to their online feedback form. We’re still in the early stages of what will be a long rezoning process, so buckle in for a lot more in the coming months and years.
Charlottesville’s best-kept secret wins big
Supplied photo.
On June 5, Charlottesville’s semi-professional football team, the Virginia Silverbacks, won the United Eastern Atlantic Football League championship 28-13 against the Virginia Crusaders. The Silverbacks, whose players include an ex-UVA player and assistant Charlottesville High School football coach, a 65-year-old UVA professor, and a former CHS starting quarterback, trounced the Crusaders, who defeated them in the championship in 2019.
After losing that game two years ago on the Silverbacks’ home turf (the Charlottesville High School field), the local team showed up ready to dominate the Crusaders this year in Williamsburg. An early touchdown in the first quarter gave them a head start, they went into halftime with a 28-6 lead, and the Silverbacks never looked back.
“A white person used their privilege to stay in office. Black people used their power.”
Former vice-mayor Wes Bellamy, speaking to The New York Times about how Black Virginians have pushed Governor Ralph Northam to adopt progressive reforms in the years since the governor’s blackface scandal
In brief:
Hoos head to Omaha
The UVA baseball team continued its miraculous postseason run on Monday. The unranked Cavaliers beat Dallas Baptist University 5-2 off a Kyle Teel grand slam in the seventh inning to secure a place in the College World Series. UVA has been one loss away from elimination six times this month and won all six games. The Hoos will head to Omaha, Nebraska, along with seven other teams, to compete in the CWS, which starts on Saturday. It’s the first World Series appearance for the Cavs since 2015, when they were crowned national champions.
Lightning speed
UVA graduate student Michaela Meyer won the national championship in the 800 meters last weekend. Meyer completed the race—just under half a mile—in 2 minutes and .28 seconds. It’s the first track and field championship for an individual woman in school history.
College Inn’s baked its last pizza
File photo.
The College Inn has closed its doors, just shy of 70 years in business. The locally owned, late-night delivery staple will be replaced with a Chipotle. “It’s goodbye for now but hopefully not forever,” reads a post on the shop’s Facebook site. “Thank you for loving the College Inn.”
Republican takes on Bob Good
Brunswick-based farmer Kimberly Lowe has announced that she’s running for the 5th District congressional seat as a Republican in 2022. Protecting second amendment rights and ensuring election integrity are among Lowe’s top priorities. She has run unsuccessfully for the House of Delegates twice in the past, but if she manages to flip the script and unseat Good, she’d be the favorite to win the general election, and could become the fifth different Republican to hold the seat in the last five terms.
Charlottesville Fire Department Captain Lance Blakey was the first to receive a coronavirus vaccine at the Blue Ridge Health District’s new vaccination facility in the Kmart parking lot last week. The city continues to move through phase 1A of vaccinations, which includes doctors, nurses, EMTs, pharmacists, social workers, and other frontline health care personnel. As of Tuesday morning, 9.2 million doses of the vaccine had been distributed in the U.S. In Virginia, 191,000 people have received their first shot, and 15,000 of those people have also gotten a second shot, which is administered around a month after the first. Virginia ranks 36th out of 50 states in the percent of the population that has been vaccinated, according to The New York Times. So far, 3,893 Albemarle County residents have been vaccinated, and 3,643 Charlottesville City residents have been vaccinated.
Freshman lawmaker Bob Good is facing calls to resign after voting to contest the 2020 presidential election. PC: Publicity photo
Off to a no-Good start
That was fast: Bob Good has been in congress for less than two weeks, and he’s already facing calls to resign. The Republican was one of the members of the House of Representatives who voted last week to formally contest the results of the 2020 presidential election in six states. That vote came on the heels of Wednesday’s deadly attack on the Capitol—later, when Democrats began the process of impeaching President Trump for his role in the insurrection, Good released a statement calling the effort “destabilizing and offensive.”
Indivisible Charlottesville held a rally outside the county office building on Friday, calling for Good to step down after his vote to contest the election. And last week, the editorial board at the Danville Register & Bee penned an op-ed to the same effect. “We hope you have taken time to watch the video of how Wednesday unfolded,” the board writes. “We hope guilt has seared a hole in your soul.”
_________________
Quote of the week
“All of the people surprised by the events of yesterday live
outside of Charlottesville. I promise you, we knew.“
—Activist Don Gathers in a tweet about the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol
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In brief
Home schooling
The Charlottesville school board voted last week to postpone in-person classes until at least March 8. Earlier in the winter, the district had hoped to return to in-person learning as early as January 19, but moved the start date back as local COVID cases continue to rise. Albemarle’s school board will meet this week to make a decision on how to handle the next few weeks.
Chased out?
Virginia state Senator and 2021 gubernatorial candidate Amanda Chase was among the seditionists on the scene at the Capitol attack last week. Soon after, the Virginia Senate’s Democratic Caucus called on Chase to resign, saying she “galvanized domestic terrorists.” Many Republicans are sick of Chase, too—former Republican representative Barbara Comstock was among a handful who called on the Virginia General Assembly to expel the lawless lawmaker.
Virginia state Senator Amanda Chase joined the march to the U.S. Capitol that resulted in a riot last week. PC: Publicity photo
Vaccines for inmates
Virginia announced last week that people in state prisons and local jails would be included in Phase 1B of COVID vaccinations. The decision was praised by justice reform advocates who have watched with horror as correctional facilities around the nation have become COVID hot spots. Phase 1b also includes people aged 75 or older and frontline workers like firefighters and K-12 teachers.
Wading in
Charlottesville City School Board member Juandiego Wade announced that he’s running for City Council this year. Wade, a school board member since 2006, was awarded the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Paul Goodloe McIntire Citizenship Award in 2019. Certainly, it takes a person with real character to run for council after watching how city government has worked for the last few years.
In Virginia's 5th Congressional District, Dr. Cameron Webb fell to Bob Good in a highly contested race. PC: Eze Amos
President-elect Joe Biden swept to an easy victory in Virginia last week, carrying the state with 53.9 percent of the vote to Donald Trump’s 44.2 percent, according to data from the Virginia Department of Elections.
In the 5th Congressional District, Democrats weren’t so successful. Dr. Cameron Webb, UVA’s Director of Health Policy and Equity, fell to Bob Good, a Liberty University athletics administrator and Campbell County Supervisor. Observers around the country noted that Webb ran a sharp campaign while Good fumbled through multiple comical scandals, including a committing a potential campaign finance violation by auctioning off an AR-15 rifle at a rally. Heading into election night, FiveThirtyEight called the district a tossup.
Ultimately, however, Good earned 210,986 votes (52.4 percent) to Webb’s 190,313 (47.3 percent).
The huge, largely rural 5th District has voted for a Republican by a comfortable margin ever since it was drawn into its current form in the last round of redistricting. Four different Republican candidates have run in the 5th since 2012, carrying between 52.4 and 60.9 percent of the vote each time.
The map above shows the margin of victory for Cameron Webb and Bob Good in each of the 5th District’s localities.
Though Webb lost to Good by 5.1 percent, there’s evidence to suggest Webb’s campaign did swing some voters into his camp. Webb outperformed Biden, earning around 7,000 more votes than the president-elect in the 5th District.
Still, that wasn’t enough to overcome the challenges presented by the gerrymandered district.
Two years ago, Democrat Leslie Cockburn lost to Republican Denver Riggleman by 6.6 percent in the 5th. In 2020, Webb managed to flip two of the district’s 23 localities, turning Nelson County and Fluvanna County from one-point losses into one-point wins. Webb also expanded on Cockburn’s 2018 performance in Albemarle, the district’s largest locality, winning 68.2 percent of the vote, compared to Cockburn’s 64.6.
Overall, Webb improved on Cockburn’s 2018 vote share in 15 of 23 localities—but he didn’t improve by more than 3.6 percent in a single locality, and he lost ground in some places.
Webb wasn’t able to make serious inroads into the district’s most populous red localities. In Pittsylvania and Fauquier counties, the district’s two largest localities outside of Charlottesville-Albemarle, Webb won 32.2 percent and 42.1 percent of the vote, respectively. For comparison, in 2018 Cockburn won 30.8 percent in Pittsylvania and 42.4 percent in Fauquier.
“It has truly been an honor to run to represent this district in Congress,” Webb wrote in a statement conceding the race on Tuesday. “This campaign has been a battle of ideas about how to best serve the people of our district and I cannot give enough thanks to everyone who made it possible.”
“Tonight is a victory for the conservative values that founded and sustain this nation, for biblical principles, the sanctity of life, religious liberty, free market capitalism and the importance of faith and family,” Good wrote after his victory.
Democrat Mark Warner also ran ahead of Biden, winning re-election to the U.S. Senate with 55.9 percent of the vote. Two Virginia Dems who flipped red seats in 2018 hung on to their districts this time around. In the 2nd, Elaine Luria beat Republican Scott Taylor for the second time in two years, widening her margin of victory to 5.4 percent, and in the 7th, Abigail Spanberger beat Delegate Nick Freitas by about 8,000 votes.
Virginia Republicans have now lost four straight presidential elections, four straight senate races, and two straight governor’s races. (Not that we’re counting.) Last time Republicans won statewide office was in 2009, when Bob McDonnell was elected governor, and he wound up being charged with a felony and narrowly avoiding prison. This year, the party ran Freitas—last spotted losing to far-right Confederate enthusiast Corey Stewart in the 2018 senate primary—in a winnable congressional race. Republicans don’t have much time on their hands if they want to right the ship before the next governor’s race next November.
Further down the ballot, Virginians overwhelmingly voted to pass an amendment to the Virginia constitution that will reform the way the state draws U.S. congressional and state legislative districts. The amendment places the responsibility for drawing district lines with a bipartisan commission comprised of citizens and legislators of both parties, rather than allowing the majority party to draw lines however they prefer. Some House of Delegates Democrats opposed the measure, claiming that it wasn’t a strong enough reform, but the proposal passed with the support of 65.8 percent of voters.
In a perfect world, new lines will be drawn in time for the 2021 House of Delegates elections. It’s possible, though, that a census delayed by coronavirus could mean new data isn’t available until the 2022 congressional races.
