The chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative congressional group in the U.S. House of Representatives, is expected to step aside, sparking discussions about who would be the next leader.
Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., chairman of the at-times rebellious caucus, lost his Republican primary bid and the recount that followed last week by roughly 370 votes. During his time in leadership, he drew the ire of different conservative factions.
Good threw his support behind Gov. Ron DeSantis over former President Donald Trump in the GOP presidential primary. This alienated Good from his colleagues and created an uphill path to reelection because his opponent, Virginia state Sen. John McGuire, earned Trump’s endorsement and eventually won.
Good is also one of the eight people who voted to remove former Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the speakership last year, prompting unease from moderate Republicans toward the Virginia representative.
In July, Good publicly confirmed he would step down as the chair if he lost the recount. “I think that would probably be in the best interest of the organization,” he said, as Politico reported.
Good has yet to officially resign from his position. After he does, the conservative group will have a few weeks to pick a new leader.
Who could replace Rep. Bob Good as Freedom Caucus chairman?
Good refused to take any names for who his successor could be. The House Freedom Caucus has begun discussions on the matter. Reports point to a possibility that a former chair, either Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania or Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, could be tapped to lead the group for the rest of Good’s term.
The two former chairmen have stood behind Good, and Biggs even traveled to Virginia to campaign for the exiting caucus leader.
Other potential candidates include Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who presently chairs the policy arm of the conservative group. He, too, firmly stood in support of Good during the primary.
“Could that be why the swamp is not attracted to someone like Bob Good — because Good is not here for power?” said Roy at a rally for Good days before the election, as Politico reported. “That Bob’s there and willing to take on the hard fights?”
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., is another possibility. He won his primary the same day Good lost.
What do Bob Good’s critics say?
While announcing he would step down, Good also defended his record and argued any changes he made followed in the footsteps of the caucus’ former chairmen.
“I would challenge anyone to substantiate any claims that I have taken HFC in a direction that’s different than Perry or Biggs,” he said. “These high-profile conflicts and fights we have predated me.”
Good’s defenders also include Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who said Good is “an exceptionally rare and valuable statesman” in a post on May 28.
“Good may have lost the battle, but he has helped purge Republican moderates from the party,” Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “The Republican caucus in Washington, and in Richmond for that matter, is more uniformly conservative than it ever was.”
But “the same inflexibility that makes the Freedom Caucus appealing to some Republican voters can be its undoing for some individual members, as Good learned in this primary,” Farnsworth said.
Earlier this month, Freedom Caucus members ousted Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, after he endorsed Good’s opponent. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, resigned in protest the same day.
Late last year, Davidson was one of the most vocal voices against the idea of Good as chairman. In a letter to his colleagues, he wrote, “I ask that you prayerfully consider electing someone else as Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.”
“I ask that we consider how to best increase our influence while preserving our power to move policy in the right direction. I strongly feel that Bob Good as Chairman will impair that objective,” he added, according to Axios.
The House Freedom Caucus also booted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Rep. Ken Buck R-Colo., this Congress.