Republican · Virginia's 5th District · 2026
John McGuire
McGuire attended nine elementary schools while growing up in foster care, before his grandparents took him and his sister in.
Biography
John McGuire attended nine elementary schools during a childhood in foster care before his grandparents raised him and his older sister.1 McGuire and his wife, Tracy, have raised five children and live in Goochland.1
He enlisted in the Navy after high school, spent ten years as a SEAL and became a sniper instructor.1 His service included deployments abroad before he returned to central Virginia.1 There he founded SEAL Team PT, a fitness business working with individuals, companies and sports teams around the country and overseas.1
McGuire served in Virginia's House of Delegates and Senate before entering Congress for his first term in 2025.1 His state work included support for school nurses administering naloxone and lower taxes on veterans' retirement pay.1 He serves on the House Armed Services and Oversight committees.1
His stated priorities include lower household costs, smaller federal government, infrastructure and agriculture.1 In November, McGuire faces Democrat Tom Perriello, a former representative for the same district, and independent Cooke Harvey.2 Perriello served from 2009 to 2011 and later became a United States envoy to Sudan and Africa's Great Lakes region.3 /)
Record and controversies
Campaign finance complaint dismissal
A 2024 FEC complaint alleged that McGuire's state campaign provided approximately $10,658 in prohibited support to his federal campaign through items including signs, emails and travel expenses.4 McGuire and the committees called the federal allegations speculative and said many other allegations concerned state law outside the FEC's jurisdiction.4
In March 2025, the FEC voted to dismiss the matter under its enforcement priority system, citing its low priority and low apparent amount, and closed the file in April.4 This discretionary dismissal did not decide the separate state law allegations.4