Dates Set For NC 9th Congressional District Special Election

CHARLOTTE, NC — The dates for a new special election for North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District have been set, according to a report.

North Carolina State Board of Election officials voted to hold a new primary May 14 and a general election on Sept. 10, Politico reported Monday. In the event a second primary is needed, it will be held on Sept. 10, with the general election moved to Nov. 10.

In the November 2018 election, Republican candidate Mark Harris narrowly bested Democratic challenger Dan McCready for the House seat by 905 votes, however, allegations and evidence soon emerged indicating a political operative hired by Harris' campaign illegally manipulated the vote tally through absentee ballot fraud.

Harris has long denied knowing about the scheme and in January sued to force election officials to certify the results, claiming there wasn't enough evidence that the ballot tampering swayed the final result. On Feb. 21, however, and after days of testimony in a board of elections hearing on the matter including that of his son refuting his claims, Harris abruptly called for a new election. Last week, however, he announced he would not be running for the seat again.

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