Even though President Trump won the district by 12 points in 2016, the Cook Political Report still rates the do-over election in North Carolina’s 9th congressional district a Toss Up.
“We’re keeping this contest in the Toss Up column for now, but these latest developments are all encouraging signs for Republicans. Ultimately, they’re defending a seat that is still very red in nature, even if the oddities that preceded another vote still leaves quite a bit in limbo to give Democrats an opening.”
North Carolina state Sen. Dan Bishop (R) won the Republican nomination to face veteran Dan McCready (D) in September’s do-over election in North Carolina’s scandal-plagued 9th Congressional District, after last year’s results were thrown out amid allegations of election fraud, the Washington Post reports.
Bishop authored the 2016 “bathroom bill,” which was later repealed, requiring transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate.
Wall Street Journal: “Republicans are looking to avoid a runoff in Tuesday’s primary for North Carolina’s do-over Ninth Congressional District race, a possibility that seemed unlikely in March when 10 candidates filed for the empty seat.”
“Avoiding a four-month runoff would be a boon to the Republican candidate, who will face Democrat Dan McCready in the fall. Mr. McCready had $1.6 million in cash on hand as of April 24 … In a recent poll, State Sen. Dan Bishop was the top candidate, with 31% support, while Stony Rushing, a gun-range owner and Union County commissioner, had 17%.”
Politico: “North Carolina Republicans are suffering from a lack of credibility, a crowded field and a cash deficit as they head into the primary for the 9th Congressional District redo election.”
“After last week’s filing deadline, 10 Republicans have declared their candidacy for the suburban Charlotte House seat, which has been vacant since January due to allegations of election fraud. A political operative hired by Republican candidate Mark Harris’ 2018 campaign oversaw the illegal collection and manipulation of absentee ballots, subsequently spurring the state election board to order a rerun last month.”
McCrae Dowless, the political operative who emerged as a central figure in the investigation into irregularities in North Carolina’s 9th congressional district, was arrested and charged with a series of charges related to his handling of absentee ballots in the 2016 general election and 2018 primary, WRAL reports.
Citing his health, Mark Harris (R) said that he won’t run in a new election for North Carolina’s 9th congressional district, the Charlotte Observer reports.
Washington Post: “Harris was ahead by 905 votes in North Carolina’s 9th District after the midterm election last year, but evidence emerged that a Harris campaign operative had improperly collected absentee ballots. State election officials last week voted unanimously to throw out the November results of the race between Harris and Dan McCready (D).”
Dan McCready (D) kicked off his campaign for a new 9th congressional district election in North Carolina, saying the people of the district need representation, the Charlotte Observer reports.
Asked whether opponent Mark Harris (R) had disqualified himself from the election during the fraud investigation, McCready said, “That’s a question for the people to decide. I think he’s going to need a few days.”
After the North Carolina state board of elections unanimously ordered a new election in the state’s 9th congressional district, the Cook Political Report says the seat remains a Toss Up.
“Meanwhile, Republicans are likely headed for a crowded primary, with or without Mark Harris. And things could get even worse for Republicans: under state law, a runoff will be held if no candidate gets 30 percent of the primary vote, further threatening to drain the party’s time and resources (the legislature lowered the threshold from 40 percent to 30 percent back in fall 2017, marginally reducing the chances this would occur).”
Mark Harris (R) called for a new election in North Carolina’s disputed 9th congressional district race, the Washington Post reports.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections is hearing evidence this week to decide whether a suspected ballot-tampering scheme tainted the outcome where Harris leads Dan McCready (D) by 905 votes in unofficial returns.
“The son of Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris testified Wednesday that he warned his father repeatedly that he believed a political operative now at the center of an election-fraud investigation had previously used illegal tactics to win votes,” the Washington Post reports.
“John Harris, now an assistant U.S. attorney in Raleigh, said he advised his father in conversations and emails that he believed Leslie McCrae Dowless was ‘shady’ and appeared to have illegally collected absentee ballots in 2016 while working for a different Republican candidate in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District.”
“State election officials in North Carolina said that a political operative for Republican Mark Harris orchestrated a ‘coordinated, unlawful, and substantially resourced absentee ballot scheme’ in the 9th Congressional District last year, hiding evidence of the operation as it unfolded and obstructing the state’s investigation after the election,” the Washington Post reports.
“Those explosive charges opened an evidentiary hearing in Raleigh Monday, where the North Carolina State Board of Elections began listening to witness testimony to decide whether enough ballots were tampered with to taint the outcome of the 9th District race.”
The Charlotte Observer has more on the hearing.
“Investigators on Monday will begin revealing the breadth of an alleged ballot-tampering scheme in North Carolina, launching a potentially bitter and partisan battle over how to fill a congressional seat that has remained vacant since January,” the Washington Post reports.
“The election has been in limbo since November, when evidence surfaced that a political operative paid by Republican candidate Mark Harris had assembled a crew of election workers to collect mail-in ballots from voters, a felony in North Carolina. With Harris leading Democrat Dan McCready by just 905 votes, the board declined to certify the results and launched a wide-reaching investigation instead.”
Mark Harris (R), in the nation’s last undecided congressional election, told the AP that “he recruited a political operative now at the center of a ballot fraud investigation because he produced election results in his rural North Carolina county and other Republicans vouched for him.”
“Harris said he didn’t know before November’s election that state elections board investigators found evidence that operative Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr. may have illegally handled ballots in 2016. Harris said he didn’t know that that evidence was referred to federal prosecutors. A background check by Harris’ political consultants missed Dowless’ previous felony convictions for insurance fraud and perjury.”
“The investigation into North Carolina’s alleged election fraud moved closer to a possible February resolution when Gov. Roy Cooper (D) named a new state elections board to oversee the probe of the last undecided congressional race in the nation,” the Charlotte Observer reports.
“The chairman of the new State Board of Elections said a vote could come next month on whether to certify the election of Republican Mark Harris or order a new election in the 9th Congressional District.”
A judge ruled that North Carolina’s investigation into election fraud by the Mark Harris (R) congressional campaign will continue, the Charlotte Observer reports.
“Harris is the Republican candidate who appeared to narrowly win an election for North Carolina’s 9th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2018 elections. But the state has not officially certified his victory, due to an ongoing investigation into alleged fraud related to mail-in absentee ballots.”
After North Carolina congressional candidate Mark Harris (R) finished addressing Mecklenburg County Republicans, he tried to avoid questions from WSOC-TV by running out of a fire exit.
After the bizarre exit, in a tweet to the reporter, Harris said he had to get home to watch the college football National Championship game.
Mark Harris (R) said he’ll ask a judge to certify his election in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District immediately, even as a probe into alleged election fraud continues, the Charlotte Observer reports.
“Harris’ announcement came after North Carolina state elections officials postponed next week’s hearing into allegations of election fraud in the 9th District — and after Gov. Roy Cooper accused Republicans of blocking the probe.”
Incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Friday that Democrats next week will not seat a North Carolina Republican amid allegations of election fraud in the state’s 9th Congressional District, the Washington Post reports.
Said Hoyer: “Given the now well-documented election fraud that took place in NC-9, Democrats would object to any attempt by Mark Harris to be seated on January 3. In this instance, the integrity of our democratic process outweighs concerns about the seat being vacant at the start of the new Congress.”
Raleigh News & Observer: “A surprise court order triggered a last-minute move Friday by Gov. Roy Cooper to continue the state election board’s probe of fraud allegations in the 9th District congressional race, even as Harris demanded to be named the winner.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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