As the NC State Board of Elections prepared to decide his father’s fate, Mark Harris’ son took the stand. in an emotional statement, John Harris described his warnings to his father before his campaign hired Leslie McCrae Dowless for the NC09 race. Nevertheless, John Harris said, his parents believed Mr. Dowess, “I didn’t.” It was Mr. Dowless’ shady absentee ballot operation is now at the center of fraud allegations in last November’s NC09 Congressional race. Plus, we unpack President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency. How will it fair in the courts?
UPDATE: On Thursday, the North Carolina State Board of Election ordered a new election in the Ninth Congressional District. The vote was unanimous. Earlier in the day, Republican candidate Mark Harris told the Board that a new election was needed. This was a surprising reversal. Previously, Mr. Harris had argued that the Board should certify him as the winner.
“It’s become clear to me that the public’s confidence in the 9th District seat general election has been undermined to an extent that a new election is warranted,” Mr. Harris said Thursday.
However, Mr. Harris maintained that he was in the dark about the illegal methods allegedly employed by a contractor working for his campaign.
The State Board of Elections did not set a date for the new contest at Thursday’s meeting. As of now, Mr. Harris has yet to decide whether he will run again.