Virginia GOP to pick House nominee after candidate misses filing deadline

Republicans are slated to pick their nominee in a Virginia congressional race on Saturday amid new questions over whether one of the candidates will appear on the November ballot.

Bob Good, a former Liberty University official, is running in a heated primary against incumbent Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.) for a chance to represent the state’s 5th District.

Candidates were required to submit their qualification forms by June 9 to appear on the November ballot, but Riggleman is raising questions after Good missed the deadline.

Riggleman told The Hill that Good is “technically in the running” in Saturday’s primary “but he couldn’t be on the ballot in November even if he miraculously beat me.”

“We don’t know if he will win the appeal at all, it just shows incompetence,” he said.

Good told The Hill that the necessary paperwork has been submitted, adding he believes he will qualify for the ballot.

The state Republican Party sent a letter to the board on Friday urging officials to grant extensions after Good and another candidate, state Del. Nick Freitas (R), who is running in the GOP primary July 18 in Virginia’s 7th District, missed the deadline.

Both candidates hand-delivered their forms on Friday, the State Board of Elections (BOE) confirmed to The Washington Post.

Officials on the state elections board are slated to meet on July 7. The board would have to grant the waivers to allow for the candidates to appear on the general election ballot.

Good launched his primary bid against Riggleman, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, last fall, accusing the Virginia Republican of not being conservative enough.

The challenge came shortly after the Rappahannock County Republican Party attempted to censure Riggleman, accusing the freshman congressman of “abandoning party principles” on fiscal spending, foreign policy and immigration.

Riggleman’s camp has argued the censure is intended “to punish” the congressman after he officiated a same-sex wedding last July.

A group of Virginia Republicans also tried to censure the congressman for officiating the wedding shortly after it took place. 

Riggleman has received endorsements from President Trump, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

Good has received backing from former Rep. Tom Garrett (R-Va.), who preceded Riggleman as the representative for Virginia’s 5th District; Jonathan Falwell, Jerry Falwell’s brother and the pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church; and former Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.).

The GOP congressional nominee for Virginia’s sprawling 5th district will be selected by roughly 3,500 delegates at a drive-thru party convention held at the Tree of Life Ministries in Lynchburg on Saturday. The nominating convention was initially scheduled for April 25, but was delayed due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

Freitas, who is running in Virginia’s 7th District for a chance to take on freshman Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), was previously forced to run a write-in campaign for his seat in the Virginia House of Delegates after failing to submit complete paperwork in 2019.