CNN
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It was too early to call the Republican primary race Tuesday night between Virginia Representative Bob Good, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus who has angered allies of former President Donald Trump and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and state Senator John McGuire.
The congressman from Virginia's 5th Congressional District faced a tough fight to oust a large portion of the GOP in a Republican primary that became the most expensive House Republican primary this cycle. As one of the chief architects of the move to oust McCarthy last year, Good drew the ire of the former speaker's allies, who spent millions seeking revenge. Good also lost Trump's support after backing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
As of late Tuesday night, the gap between McGuire and Good was less than one point, small enough for the second-place candidate to demand a recount. Mail-in ballots will continue to arrive until Friday.
Good acknowledged the state of the race Tuesday night.
“Right now we are waiting on the final election results from today's primary,” he wrote on X. “While we wait, I want to thank you for your support so far. You made sure your vote was cast.”
CNN projects that Eugene Vindman, a retired Army colonel and a key figure in Trump's first impeachment, will win the Democratic primary for Virginia's 7th congressional district.
Vindman is seeking to replace retiring Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a contested election this year as the GOP’s slim majority in the House is at stake.
Vindman and his twin brother, retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, are best known for their role in the impeachment, as both raised concerns about a 2019 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In the call, Trump reportedly asked for an investigation into Hunter Biden, the son of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Alexander Vindman was a star witness during the 2020 impeachment hearings, and the twin brothers — who both worked for the National Security Council — became heroes to Democratic activists opposing the former president.
Vindman's role in Trump's impeachment likely made a difference in his campaign. While most of his primary opponents were current and former elected officials, federal records show the first-time candidate raised $5 million as of May 29. That amount was nearly four times more than the other six Democrats in the race combined.
Retiring Congresswoman Spanberger is vacating her seat to run for governor next year. A former CIA officer, she won a third term in 2022 by 5 points.
CNN projects that Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, will face a tough primary challenge in the state's 4th Congressional District.
Cole was projected to win a four-way primary that included insurance broker Paul Bondar, who had lent more than $5 million to her campaign as of May 29 and flooded the broadcast with ads.
Cole, a longtime GOP activist, had the backing of former President Trump. But Bonder presented himself as a more conservative alternative to the veteran congressman. He also sought to downplay the ties between Trump and Cole, airing ads highlighting donations Cole made to Trump's 2024 GOP primary rivals before he ran for president.
Cole, first elected to Congress in 2002, has easily defeated primary challengers in previous elections. He has maintained close ties with conservatives in the House — and has voted against certifying some of the 2020 election results and to impeach Trump twice.
Trump endorsed Cole in early May, saying, “He has almost always voted with me, including on both impeachment frauds.”
Perhaps the most unusual aspect of Tuesday's race was how new Bonder is to Oklahoma. After spending most of his career in Illinois, Bonder moved to Texas in 2020, living outside Dallas — where he voted in this March's Republican primary. Then, in April, he launched his congressional campaign in Oklahoma. State voting records show Bonder's first in-person voting in his primary race is the first time he has voted in Oklahoma. Cole's allies aired ads questioning Bonder's residency.
The pro-Cole Americans 4 Security super PAC aired a 30-second ad that compared the primary contest to the Red River Rivalry—a famously bitter rivalry involving the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas. It highlighted Cole's long-standing Sooner State ties, including that he graduated from the University of Oklahoma, and described his opponent as “Texan Paul Bonder, who's trying to buy an Oklahoma congressional seat straight from Dallas.”
The ad said, “Don't let a Longhorn try to take our Sooner seats,” referring to the mascots of both schools.
Bonder's campaign responded with an ad claiming the challenger owned a home in Oklahoma and had purchased a 500-acre property in Caddo “to build his dream home.” In the ad the previous owner, Cheyenne Stanley, said he had sold both of Bonder's properties, the first “about two years ago.”
This story has been updated with additional reporting.