North Carolina’s Mark Harris gets a second chance to go to Congress after absentee ballot scandal

The Rev. Mark Harris has won the Republican nomination for a U.S. House seat in North Carolina, giving the pastor a second chance to go to Washington after a 2018 absentee ballot scandal.

Harris just barely crossed the 30% threshold to avoid a possible runoff in the six-candidate race in the state’s 8th District, narrowly defeating political newcomer and Union County farmer Allan Baucom.

Harris will face Democrat Justin Dues in November in a district drawn to heavily favor Republicans. The district runs from Charlotte east to Lumberton.

Harris thought he was on his way to the U.S. House in 2018 when he appeared to have won the general election by just under 1,000 votes. But an investigation found a political operative working for him gathered hundreds of absentee ballots that were either blank or partially filled out and turned them in.

While the investigation led to charges against several people and some convictions, Harris wasn’t charged, cooperated with investigators and called for a new election. The State Board of Elections agreed. Harris did not run again, however, and the seat was won by Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop. Bishop decided not to run for reelection this year and is his party’s nominee for state attorney general.

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