Republican Mark Harris announced Friday that he would support a new election for North Carolina’s 9th congressional district if it is determined that election fraud swung the race in his favor.
Harris announced in a web video that he would back a potential new race amid rising evidence of fraud in the contest, in which he leads Democratic rival Dan McCready by 905 votes. Questions surround an independent contractor that worked on Harris’ campaign as the state’s board of elections investigates absentee ballot irregularities.
“Although I was absolutely unaware of any wrongdoing, that will not prevent me from cooperating with this investigation,” Harris said, adding he is hopeful about ultimately being certified the winner of the election. “However, if this investigation finds proof of illegal activity on either side to such a level that it could have changed the outcome of the election, then I would wholeheartedly support a new election to ensure all voters have confidence in the results.”
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNC9) December 7, 2018
Harris’ announcement comes a day after McCready retracted his concession and a top North Carolina GOP official said he would also be open to a new election if it is shown the irregularities swung the race in the GOP candidate’s direction.
Dallas Woodhouse, the North Carolina GOP’s executive director, indicated the outcome remains in doubt until the board completes it’s investigation. They are slated to meet on Dec. 21.
“We just don’t know until we have the facts,” Woodhouse said in an interview earlier Friday. “Where I hope it ends is with significant reforms that Republicans and Democrats are a part of. No congressional seat is worth this. No seat in Congress, no election.”
Woodhouse said his top goal is maintaining confidence in the election system, particularly for first-time voters.
“We owe it to those people. I owe it to those people so that they stay involved, so that they see that when it comes tough, that the parties can come together to fix a crisis — and this is a crisis. It’s a crisis in the electoral system and it’s a crisis of confidence in it.”
