Mark Harris cites health concerns as the reason for his withdrawal

Republican Mark Harris said Tuesday he will not run in the new election for North Carolina’s 9th congressional district, citing his “extremely serious” health condition.

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It comes just days after the North Carolina State Board of Election unanimously voted for a new election after the district’s House race from 2018 was marred by claims of ballot fraud.

“After consulting with my physicians, there are several things that my health situation requires as a result of the extremely serious condition that I faced in mid-January,” Harris said in a statement. “One of those is a necessary surgery that is now scheduled for the last week in March.”

Harris added, “I have decided not to file in the new election for Congressional District 9.”

e’ve told you in the recent past that Mark Harris said he had nothing to do with the voter fraud that was done on his behalf by a Republican consultant he hired.

In fact, last week Harris actually called for a new election even though he was leading in the last one, suggesting that it was only fair for voters to get a do-over.

See Also: Heartbreaking… This isn't in New York, this isn't in California, this happened just this week right here in Virginia.

Well now, Harris is completely dropping out of the race even though voters will get a do-over election:

AP – The Republican candidate whose apparent victory in a North Carolina congressional race was thrown out because of suspicions of ballot fraud announced Tuesday he will not run in the newly ordered do-over election, saying he needs surgery late next month.

In a statement, Mark Harris said he’s skipping the upcoming re-do election in North Carolina’s 9th congressional district for health reasons. He did not mention the alleged ballot fraud scandal.

Harris led Democrat Dan McCready by just 905 votes after November’s election, but the outcome was never certified. State election officials grew concerned about reports that an operative working for Harris was illegally tampering with absentee ballots.

Harris last week stopped a state elections board hearing into ballot fraud by declaring he couldn’t continue to testify. He cited health problems caused by a blood infection that required hospitalization and led to two strokes. He also said he agreed that a new election should be called.

The elections board ordered a new contest after evidence that a Harris operative may have illegally collected mail-in ballots.

A date for the new election has not been announced.

Here’s part of the statement from Harris:

“After consulting with my physicians, there are several things that my health situation requires as a result of the extremely serious condition that I faced in mid-January. One of those is a necessary surgery that is now scheduled for the last week in March.”

“It has been an honor to have your love, support, encouragement, and prayers each step of our journey together.”

I’ll be honest. If this were a Democrat I wouldn’t hesitate to conclude he was ducking out because he’s guilty and just wants this to go away.

I said when I first wrote about this that it’s hard to believe that Harris didn’t know anything about what this consultant was doing, on his behalf. And this certainly doesn’t help his case in my mind.

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You know the old saying, that if it quacks like a duck, it’s probably not a pony. (my paraphrase)

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