By admin 
(The Hill) – Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) early Wednesday announced he would drop his reelection bid, coming in wake of the House Ethics Committee on Monday recommending that he be formally censured following an investigation that found he violated the “spirit” of the chamber’s policies on sexual harassment against staff.
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“After much prayer and reflection, I’ve decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign. I will complete my current term,” Edwards said in a statement on social platform X in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. “Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life. Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless WNC and America.”
Republicans had been growing concerned about the prospects of Edwards retaining his competitive Western North Carolina Congressional district, which is rated “Lean Republican” by the Cook Political Report, in light of the House Ethics Committee allegations.
Per state law, the state Republican party executive committee for the district will be able to meet to select a replacement Republican nominee to appear on the ballot.
What did the House Ethics Committee find?
The House Ethics Committee report on Monday said that Edwards had engaged in “highly unprofessional” conduct with two female members of his staff that “made the women feel uncomfortable, and/or gave the appearance of a sexual or romantic advance.”
That conduct included bringing the staffers on extravagant outings and trips; writing poems for a staffer and crying during a slideshow during her going away office party; telling a staffer he left early from an event because she brought a date; sending personal texts late in the evenings; paying for massages and spa treatments for the staffer; and paying for a singer to go to a staffer’s birthday party to sing a surprise song.
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Paul Shumaker, a campaign spokesman for Edwards, said in a Monday statement that “the Committee findings completely exonerate Representative Edwards under the House rules governing sexual misconduct or harassment; they contradict the committee’s conclusion.” Counsel for Edwards said that the panel found the congressman “neither engaged in sexual activity with nor explicitly propositioned any individual staff member.”
But the Ethics committee said that Edwards’s behavior with “two young staffers, repeatedly over a sustained period, was beyond inappropriate.”
The panel’s recommended censure resolution did not explicitly accuse him of sexual harassment or call for Edwards to be removed from committees or face other consequences but calls for the chamber to adopt the report on the Ethics panel’s findings.
Edwards was first elected to Congress in 2022 after defeating then-Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) — the young congressman who had faced scrutiny over his press-seeking tactics and citations for speeding and bringing a loaded gun to the airport — in a 2022 primary.
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