McCready Withdraws Concession For NC-9 Congressional Seat

CHARLOTTE, NC — In the wake of mounting allegations of voting fraud in Bladen County during last month’s midterm election, voters in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional district may soon be headed back to the voting booth for a new election.

In what was one of the more dramatic races in North Carolina, Republican Mark Harris declared victory in his bid for 9th congressional district seat in the U.S. House, with fewer than 1,000 votes separating him from his Democratic challenger Dan McCready.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections, however, twice refused to certify the results after “claims of numerous irregularities and concerted fraudulent activities related to absentee mail ballots,” the board’s vice chair Joshua Malcolm said, The Charlotte Observer reported.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections and Ethics, alongside the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations and the Wake County District Attorney’s Office, have all launched investigations into those alleged fraudulent activities that stem from the actions of a political worker for Republican candidate Mark Harris, who is accused of fraudulently obtaining and altering absentee ballots in Bladen County.

Now, more than a month after the election and in light of the allegations, McCready has withdrawn his concession.

“A month ago, I conceded to my opponent Mark Harris in the race for North Carolina’s 9th Congressional district. But last week, we began to learn about shameful criminal activity bankrolled by my opponent, take away people’s very right to vote,” McCready said Thursday.

“Today I withdraw my concession and call on Mark Harris to end his silence and tell us exactly what he knew, and when,” he said.

Thursday morning, CNN reported that NC GOP executive director Dallas Woodhouse said that if the fraud allegation were found by the election board to have merit, he would support a new election for the congressional seat.

He told a CNN reporter that after seeing the network’s coverage of the allegations, he vomited. “This has shaken us to the core,” Woodhouse said.

According to a Washington Post report Thursday, however, Woodhouse, along with the National Republican Congressional Committee, received complaints about potential absentee voting irregularities after incumbent Rep. Robert Pittenger lost his bid to keep his seat to Harris largely because of voting in rural Bladen County.

Incoming House majority whip Rep. Jim Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina, is also calling for a new election, the News & Observer reported. “North Carolina ought to run everything over,” including a new primary with Pittenger, he told the newspaper. “Pittenger ought to be on the ballot.”

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