Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The seat hasn’t even officially gone up for grabs and yet we have our first candidate. On Tuesday, July 2, former State Senator Amanda Chase announced that she plans to move into this region and run for the State Senate District 10 seat.

That’s the seat currently held by John McGuire. However, he may be giving that up in a few months for a seat in Washington. Based on the results certified by the Virginia Board of Elections on July 2, McGuire is the winner of the Republican primary for Virginia’s 5th District seat in the U.S. House. His opponent, incumbent Rep. Bob Good, wants a recount, but looking at Virginia’s history, it’s extremely rare for the original result to be overturned. So if the results stand and then if McGuire goes on to win the 5th district general election in November, his seat in the state house will be open. And Chase wants to get an early start on campaigning to fill his place.

Chase currently doesn’t live in that area, but she plans to change that.

“It is this (10th District) seat that I will be seeking so that I can once again represent you in the Virginia Senate as the strong conservative that you’ve come to rely on and trust for the past 8 years,” she told supporters in an email. “Currently, I have a contract pending on a home in Appomattox and will reside in Senate District 10 by the end of the month.”

MORE ABOUT AMANDA CHASE

Here’s some background on Chase. From 2010 to 2015, she owned a political consulting firm, working with Republicans such as Eric Cantor, Randy Forbes and Susan Stimpson on their respective campaigns.

She ran for the State Senate District 11 seat in 2015, winning the race. She was re-elected to be District 11’s state senator in 2019, receiving 54.5% of the vote. In 2021, she ran to be the Republican nominee for governor, losing at the party’s state convention. She was eliminated in the fifth round of voting, ending third with 25.2% of the vote. Also in 2021, Chase was formally censured by the Virginia State Senate for her comments relating to and in support of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Three Republicans joined Democrats, making it a 24-9 vote. After redistricting, Chase tried to switch seats and run for the District 12 State Senate seat in 2023, but she lost. Glenn Sturtevant won the Republican primary with 39.5% of the vote, compared to Chase’s 37.8%.

WHAT ABOUT THE RECOUNT?

So while candidates start popping up, looking to take McGuire’s spot in the State Senate, what about his current race? As we mentioned above, McGuire is the winner with the results certified, with 31,583 votes to incumbent Bob Good’s 31,209.

Good wants a recount, but that’s up to the Board of Elections. He would have to argue that there were enough concerns to make the case the ballots weren’t counted correctly. To date, he hasn’t done that officially. He didn’t show up for the meeting on July 2 when the results were certified. But he promises a recount request is coming.

“Now that the preliminary certification of the primary election has concluded, we will move into a recount,” Good said in a statement after results were certified. “In a race with nearly 63,000 votes that is separated by a 0.6% margin, Republican voters across the 5th District deserve to know that all legal votes have been accurately counted. We will vigorously pursue that objective over the coming days and weeks, as permitted by Virginia law.”

Part of the delay could be about the money. Now in this case, the commonwealth doesn’t automatically pick up the bill. The state pays for the recount in cases where the margin of victory is less than or equal to 0.5%. For any other requested recounts, the candidate has to put up the funds. Based on the certified results, McGuire’s margin of victory stands at 0.6%, meaning Good will need to cover the cost. If he wins the recount, that money will be refunded. If he loses, that money is turned over to the Board of Elections.