North Carolina's redo of a congressional election won't include the apparent winner of the first go-round. Republican Mark Harris posted Tuesday on Facebook that he isn't running again, KAIT reports, citing surgery scheduled for next month. His campaign had been accused of ballot fraud in the November race, and the state's election board has decided the 9th District should vote again. That happened after Harris' son told the board that he had warned his father about a political operative accused of fraud over absentee ballots, contradicting the candidate's own testimony. Faced with the prospect of cross-examination lasting days or even perjury charges, the Washington Post reports, Mark Harris then called for a new election. The first election has never been ruled official; Harris was leading by 905 votes.
Dan McCready, the Democrat who faced Harris last fall, is running again, and Politico reports that he has campaign money and support from the national party. McCready is an Iraq War veteran seeking office for the first time. "While Washington Republicans have spent over $2 million propping up a candidate who stole North Carolinians' votes and threatened the integrity of our election process," a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman said, "we're proud to stand with Dan and look forward to him bringing his leadership to Congress." GOP strategists thought Harris could win the primary again but would have a tough time raising money, let alone winning, the new election. Harris said in his post that he's supporting Stony Rushing, a Union County commissioner, in the Republican primary. The general election probably will be held in October, per the Post. (A national commission found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election.)
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