2019 North Carolina's 9th Congressional District Special Election
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A
special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
was held on September 10, 2019, to fill the vacancy in North Carolina's 9th congressional district in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
for the remainder of the
116th United States Congress The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate, Senate and the United States House of Representati ...
. The seat had been vacant since the opening of the 116th Congress, following the refusal of the North Carolina State Board of Elections to certify the results of the November 2018 election in the district due to allegations of
electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...
. Because of the allegations, the race received substantial national attention. In the original election, Mark Harris, a Republican, led Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in the unofficial returns for the 2018 North Carolina's 9th congressional district election. However, allegations of fraud in the election prevented its certification.New NC elections board sets date for 9th District hearing
'' WRAL'', February 4, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
After hearing evidence, including testimony from Harris himself and his own son, the board unanimously voted on February 21 to call a new election. The primary was held on May 14, 2019, and the general election was held on September 10. A total of 10 Republican candidates qualified for the primary. Dan McCready, the Democratic Party nominee in the 2018 election, ran again and faced no primary opposition. Among Republicans, neither Harris nor Robert Pittenger, the
incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...
whom Harris defeated in the 2018 primary election, filed to run. After winning the Republican primary by a large margin, Dan Bishop narrowly won the general election, garnering 50.7% of the vote to McCready's 48.7%.


Background

The 2018 congressional district election ended with Republican Mark Harris leading Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes, the closest race in the district in over sixty years. While McCready had conceded defeat, the
North Carolina Democratic Party The North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) is the North Carolina affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. It is headquartered in the historic Goodwin House, located in Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh. The party contr ...
alleged that
electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...
had taken place, and filed affidavits with the North Carolina State Board of Elections alleging that independent contractors working on behalf of Harris had illegally collected absentee ballots ( ballot harvesting). The North Carolina Board of Elections voted unanimously not to certify the election and later ordered an evidentiary hearing to be held. The board also opened an investigation around the activities of Leslie McCrae Dowless, a campaign operative with felony fraud and perjury convictions, who was hired by the Harris campaign. Incoming Democratic Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer Steny Hamilton Hoyer ( ; born June 14, 1939) is an American politician and retired attorney who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1981. He also served as House Majority Leader from 2007 to 20 ...
announced that the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
would not seat Harris until the fraud investigation had been completed. After a delay caused by restructuring of the Board of Elections and delayed appointment of members by Republican allies of Harris, the board set hearings to begin on February 18, 2019. On that day the regulator reported that it had found evidence of "a coordinated, unlawful and substantially resourced absentee ballot scheme" that may have involved more than 1,000 ballots or ballot request forms. On February 20, Harris's son, John Harris, a federal prosecutor in North Carolina, testified to the election board that he had repeatedly warned his father not to hire Dowless because Dowless appeared to have previously engaged in illegal tactics to win votes. On February 21, Harris announced that "the public's confidence in the ninth district seat general election has been undermined to an extent that a new election is warranted." The Board of Elections voted unanimously to call a special election, with a primary if necessary on May 14, to fill the vacancy. This was the first House of Representatives election to require a do-over since 1974. Dowless was indicted and arrested on February 27, 2019. He faced felony charges of obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and two possession of absentee ballots charges. In July 2019, the Wake County district attorney also announced charges against Lisa Britt, Ginger S. Eason, Woody D. Hester, James Singletary, Jessica Dowless and Kelly Hendrix, and additional charges against Leslie McCrae Dowless.


Republican primary


Candidates


Nominee

* Dan Bishop, attorney and state senator


Defeated in primary

*Chris Anglin, attorney and candidate for
North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...
in
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
*Leigh Brown, realtor, CEO and author *Kathie Day, realtor *Gary Dunn, perennial candidate *Matthew Ridenhour, former Mecklenburg County commissioner *Stevie Rivenbark, businesswoman *Stony Rushing, Union County commissioner * Fern Shubert, former state senator and candidate for governor in
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
*Albert Lee Wiley Jr., perennial candidate


Withdrew

*David Blackwelder, Wake Forest police officer and nominee for Wake County Board of Commissioners District 6 in 2018


Declined

* Dean Arp, state representative (endorsed Dan Bishop) *Dan Barry, chair of the Union County Republican Party and candidate for North Carolina's 9th congressional district in 2012 (endorsed Dan Bishop) * William M. Brawley, former state representative (endorsed Dan Bishop) * Danny Britt, state senator (endorsed Dan Bishop) * Andy Dulin, former state representative * Mark Harris, pastor, nominee for North Carolina's 9th congressional district in 2018, candidate for North Carolina's 9th congressional district in 2016, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2014 (endorsed Stony Rushing) * Nat Robertson, former mayor of
Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-Ameri ...
* Pat McCrory, former governor of North Carolina * Robert Pittenger, former U.S. Representative (endorsed Matthew Ridenhour) *Kenny Smith, former Charlotte city councilman and nominee for mayor of Charlotte in 2017 (endorsed Dan Bishop) * Scott Stone, former state representative * Tommy Tucker, former state senator (endorsed Dan Bishop)


Endorsements


Polling


Results


Democratic primary


Candidates


Declared

* Dan McCready, former U.S. Marine, businessman, and nominee for North Carolina's 9th congressional district in 2018


Endorsements


Libertarian primary


Candidates


Declared

*Jeff Scott, nominee for North Carolina's 9th congressional district in 2018


Green primary


Candidates


Declared

*Allen Smith, perennial candidate


General election

Dan McCready, the Democratic candidate, ran on a platform of cutting taxes on the
middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...
, ending
gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...
, renegotiating trade deals, and reducing military interventions overseas. His platform also supports protecting
Social Security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...
and Medicare, overturning ''Citizens United'', and granting full federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe. Republican candidate Dan Bishop is best known for his opposition to
LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...
, particularly the drafting of North Carolina's " Bathroom Bill". During the early voting period for this election,
Hurricane Dorian Hurricane Dorian was an extremely powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone, which became the most intense on record to strike The Bahamas. It is tied with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin in term ...
battered the eastern coast of the United States, necessitating early voting to be halted in several counties on the
Outer Banks The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separatin ...
and elsewhere on the coast until the storm had passed.


Predictions


Endorsements


Polling

with Mark Harris
with generic Republican and Dan McCready
with generic Republican and generic Democrat


Fundraising


Results


County results


Notes

Partisan clients
Additional candidates


References


External links

Official campaign websites
Dan Bishop (R) for Congress

Dan McCready (D) for Congress

Jeff Scott (L) for Congress

Allen Smith (G) for Congress
{{2019 United States elections North Carolina 09 2019 09 North Carolina 09 United States House of Representatives 09 United States House of Representatives 2019 09 North Carolina 2019 09 September 2019 in the United States