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       Virginia Del. John J. McGuire III (R-Goochland) announced Wednesday that he will challenge Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) for their party’s nomination in the state’s 5th Congressional District, setting up a heated battle next year between the two far-right conservatives in the red-leaning district.

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       McGuire, who was elected to the state Senate last week after running unopposed, said in a message to supporters that Good “is more focused on getting on the news and serving himself than serving the people.”

       “I appreciate anyone who wants to serve in Congress but our current congressman has failed us time and time again,” the announcement said.

       Good’s reelection campaign did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday and remained silent about the challenge on social media.

       The congressional district includes the Charlottesville area and stretches south to Danville. Both candidates have touted unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

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       But earlier this year Good endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the GOP presidential nomination over former president Donald Trump, a onetime supporter of the congressman.

       McGuire — a former U.S. Navy SEAL who attended the 2021 pro-Trump rally that resulted in the Jan. 6 insurrection — attacked the congressman over that decision, saying in his announcement that Good “abandoned” Trump.

       McGuire also criticized Good for joining efforts to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House speaker after initially supporting the California Republican. “We don’t have time for toxic infighting that cripples our party and country, and we don’t have time for do-nothing politicians,” McGuire’s announcement said.

       In a recent TV interview, Good said he voted against McCarthy out of anger over the continuing resolution McCarthy brokered with Democrats in September that averted a government shutdown.

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       “We will be better for it,” Good said of McCarthy’s ouster in the interview.

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       Good, a former Campbell County board supervisor, was elected to his seat in 2020 after defeating then-Rep. Denver Riggleman in their party’s nominating contest that year.

       McGuire, who after leaving the Navy founded a fitness company that puts its clients through SEAL training, was elected to the House of Delegates in 2017. He has launched two unsuccessful bids for Congress in the past, in 2020 and 2022.

       McGuire’s announcement prompted immediate pushback from GOP figures in the district, who argued he was trying to climb the political ladder before he had even begun serving in the state Senate.

       “John McGuire’s convention race was characterized by his personal ambitions and not by a desire to improve the welfare of the people he was elected to represent,” the Goochland County Republican Committee wrote in a “statement of no confidence” published just hours later.

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       During a meeting with the Fluvanna Republican Committee in January, McGuire was recorded pledging to serve a full term in the state Senate if he won and not to challenge Good for the 5th Congressional District seat. All three other candidates in the primary had made the same pledge.

       The Goochland GOP statement said that McGuire had “misled and betrayed” the electorate by failing to adhere to that promise and called on him to reconsider his decision.

       Two of McGuire’s three state Senate primary challengers, Louisa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Duane Adams and Sandy Brindley, also released a statement Wednesday condemning McGuire’s announcement and claiming that McGuire “lied.”

       McGuire referred The Washington Post to his campaign spokesman, Riley Ploch, who did not immediately respond to a phone call and text message seeking comment.

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