By Brandon Martin
Bob Good, the Republican nominee for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, plans to make good on promises to continue the conservative policies set forward by President Donald Trump — hoisting the banner of religious values, small government and strong borders.
“I’m a bright red conservative. I’m running to continue President Trump’s free economic policies, lower taxes, and deregulation,” Good said. “Those are the same policies that have helped create jobs and prevent unemployment.”
Good said that times weren’t always great for him growing up in Lynchburg, but that the adversity helped shape him into someone who is built to keep fighting once he gets to Washington.
“I grew up in a low-income family. I know what it is like to struggle and to have to work for everything from a very young age,” he said. “Those kinds of things, you don’t enjoy but they shape who you are. The Lord has blessed me more than I could have expected or deserved.”
Good said that he worked his way through college and was lucky enough to receive a partial wrestling scholarship to Liberty University. In the process, he obtained a degree in finance and met his wife Tracey. The couple have three children, Patrick, 25; Sydney, 22 and Conner, 20 – all of whom either graduated from or are still attending Good’s alma mater.
Following his undergraduate tenure at the school, Good received a job with CitiFinancial and eventually reached the position of District Manager. He managed 10 branches, 60 employees and $40 million in assets while generating $3.7 million in net profit in 2005, which marked his final year with the company.
Good said he returned to Liberty following his time with CitiFInancial and took on a chief fundraising role for the athletics department. He also obtained a master’s in business administration in leadership during this time.
He got his first taste in government after winning a seat on the Campbell County Board of Supervisors in 2016. Good recently decided to step down from that posit to pursue Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. He won the primary nomination against republican incumbent Denver Riggleman III.
Good said that the deck was stacked against him during his race against Riggleman
“We were outspent 10-1 and despite that, we won almost 60 percent of the vote in the largest convention in district history,” Good said.
But his reasons for challenging Riggleman came down to the incumbent’s voting record.
Two of the major votes that Good opposed were against some of Trump’s key campaign promises in 2016.
“The first vote that I didn’t really appreciate was on immigration,” Good said. “The president ran on it and I was very disappointed on several of his (Riggleman) votes where he allowed hundreds of thousands of foreign workers to come in and take American jobs.”
Good added that he thought stagnant wages over the last decade can be attributed to foreign workers outcompeting citizens for lower wages.
When asked if he thought employers bore any responsibility over hiring undocumented workers, Good said that “I believe it is the responsibility of Congress from a legislative standpoint. They should be implementing mandates that give employers the right tools to make these decisions,” adding that a mandate on electronic verification of worker status is one tool that he believes would be beneficial.
The second vote that helped launch Good’s challenge of Riggleman was over the Affordable Care Act.
“He voted with the democrats against repealing Obamacare,” Good said.
As for his own views on healthcare reform, Good said he believes in “market driven, patient centered healthcare.”
He added that that health insurance provided through employers is the best route to providing care to citizens.
“The last thing we need is government control of our healthcare,” Good said. “A lot of the problems we currently face with the healthcare system are the regulations put in place by the government in the first place.”
Good said he would favor “eliminating surprise billing, repealing (Certificate of Need) CON laws that give veto power to the states over bringing in low-cost providers into areas, and a health savings account should be available to everyone as well.”
In the midst of the current health crisis over the coronavirus, Good said it is important not to lose sight of the importance of ensuring children receive a proper education.
“I want to work to get children back into the schools,” he said. “They are at a lower-risk category and I think it can be done successfully if we continue to maintain some of those safe practices such as social distancing and facemasks.”
Overall, Good said that the lack of in-person instruction has negative impacts on student development.
“I think most importantly, we want to reduce the federal government’s control over education,” Good said. “We want as much power to lie at the local level as possible, like our founders intended. The pandemic has served to show many weaknesses that we are experiencing throughout the country–such as our education system.”
Good said he is in favor or increasing the options that parents have on school choice. Outside of public school, he said that parents want to be able to send their children to charter schools and an education savings account set up to support homeschooling or private religious-based institutions.
While broadband access has been closely linked with education lately, Good said the expansion of broadband would benefit multiple facets of society.
“In current times, the importance of broadband can’t be overstated,” Good said. “Not only is it currently vital to our education system, it has been shown to be essential for telemedicine and business growth as well. Bringing in some of these businesses and growing commerce in the region is heavily reliant on broadband access.”
Good said that he’s been fighting for broadband expansion since his tenure on the Campbell County board, experiencing success in making the internet available for underserved communities.
“I understand the needs of businesses and I understand that you can’t always have a completely private solution to everything,” Good said. “I think that the public has a responsibility to help in this effort of expanding broadband and the president has made that a priority as well.”
Good also weighed into another of the country’s biggest debates.
With the current outcry for criminal justice reform throughout the country, Good said that he stands on the side of law enforcement.
“I will support the police and local sheriffs who work every day to protect our citizens and our businesses,” Good said. “The democrats are celebrating anarchy and lawlessness. They won’t even criticize some of the looting and unrest we are seeing in areas like Portland.”
The congressional hopeful also clarified his positions on other areas of the law.
On his campaign website, Good comes out in favor of 2nd Amendment Sanctuaries, but he also notes that he is against sanctuary cities.
“Democrats are the party of open borders, sanctuary cities and granting all of the rights of citizenship to everyone here either legally or illegally. The sanctuary cities are intended to undermine enforcement of current laws,” Good said.
When asked if the 2nd Amendment sanctuaries would also be a means of undermining current laws, Good said “the 2nd Amendment sanctuaries say we are not going to enforce unconstitutional restrictions against our right to bear arms. I’m in favor of limited government, but the federal government’s role is to keep us safe, including who we allow in our country.
“The Constitution is the highest law in the land. We are respecting it with the 2nd Amendment sanctuaries, and we are disrespecting it with sanctuary cities,” he said.
Good also discussed the 1st Amendment and how he is running to preserve Judeo-Christian values that include “respect for the value of life and individual liberties. Any honest reading of the founding documents shows that the founders were people of faith. They recognized faith and family as being important.”
Good said he believes the constitution protects the rights of everyone and that he believes it is pertinent to push back against democrats “forcing everyone to a secular humanist agenda.
“The founders didn’t intend to protect the state from religious influence. They intended to keep the state from preventing the free exercise of religion. The government has no constitutional authority over religion,” he said.
A self-described biblical conservative, Good said he is also a financial conservative as well, and if elected, would like to continue Trump-era tax cuts “which lowered taxes for businesses” which help “bring back industry to America.”
However, he said a larger problem is government spending.
“I’d be in favor of adding a balanced budget amendment for the federal government like some states have,” Good said. “I think we should also provide the president with line item veto power over the budget, and I won’t raise the debt ceiling unless it’s accompanied by reductions in spending. If we stop the increase of spending, we could hold the line,” on the nation’s approximate $27 trillion debt.
While Good said there are “blanket programs in every department” that he thinks could be reduced, he declined to mention any specific programs that he would like to see trimmed.
Good added that he would “always be transparent about where I stand on the issues” and that overall, he believes the people “need to hold the government responsible for its actions.”
To find out more, visit www.bobgoodforcongress.com.
