Editor’s note: The exact vote counts are going to change in the next couple of days as provisional votes and eligible mail-in ballots are counted. The headline is out of date, but wasn’t at 10 a.m. on 6/19/2024.
After several intense months of fierce campaigning between two Republicans, the narrative for the Fifth District Congressional race changes slightly now that both primaries have been held.
On the Democratic side, Gloria Tinsley Witt received 57.17 percent of the 24,343 votes casts, with Paul Riley and Gary Terry each just over 20 percent.
On the Republican side, State Senator John McGuire has 31,377 votes to 31,068 for two-term incumbent Bob Good. That’s a half percentage point of difference and Good did not concede in a post on Elon Musk’s social media website.
“The entire DC Swamp was aligned against us with over $10 million in attack ads, but with your help we were able to make this race too close to call,” Good’s campaign wrote. “We are doing what we can to ensure we have teams of observers and legal counsel to ensure all the votes are properly counted in the coming days.”
McGuire accepted his 315-vote difference as victory enough and also posted to Elon Musk’s social media site.
“There are still a few votes left to count, but it’s clear that all paths end with a victory,” his campaign wrote in one post.
McGuire declared his candidacy in the Republican primary for the Fifth District just eight days after being elected to the state Senate last November. He secured the endorsement from convicted felon and former President Donald Trump after Good initially endorsed Florida Governor Ron Desantis. Good doubled down on his support for Trump, but the McGuire campaign continued to call his loyalty to the Republican leader into question.
There is no acknowledgement of Witt’s victory on her website and the candidate does not appear to have a social media presence.
The Federal Election Commission has campaign finance data through May 29, and both the Good campaign and McGuire campaign raised over a million not including advertising paid for by outside groups. Witt on the other hand had only raised $20,198. Terry raised $13,465 and Riley raised no funds.
Meanwhile in the 7th District, Republican Derrick Anderson got 44.35 percent of the vote in a crowded field. On the Democratic side, Eugene Vindaman secured the nomination with 49.42 percent of the vote.
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