Rep. Chuck Edwards drops reelection bid after House Ethics Committee recommends censure

Edwards dropped his re-election bid after the House Ethics Committee recommended he be censured over sexual harassment allegations. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Rep. Chuck Edwards's (R-N.C.) spokesman Paul Shumaker slammed the House Ethics Committee panel that cited him for inappropriate behavior following Edwards dropping his reelection bid for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.  In an appearance on PBS’s “State Lines,” Shumaker called out his issues with the House Ethics report that resulted in Edwards’s drop from the...

Congressman Chuck Edwards announced on Wednesday that he would not be running for re-election, two days after a congressional ethics committee recommended.

The House Ethics Committee recommended he be censured for unprofessional and inappropriate conduct toward two young female aides in his office.

Republican Representative Chuck Edwards will not seek reelection to his competitive North Carolina US House seat after the Ethics Committee recommended censuring him for violating rules regarding inappropriate conduct in the workplace.

North Carolina Representative Chuck Edwards has called it quits on his reelection race.“After much prayer and reflection, I’ve decided to withdraw from my reelection campaign,” Edwards wrote on X early Wednesday morning. “I will complete my current term.”The congressman’s sudden exit came after the House Ethics Committee recommended that he be censured for “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.”In a 25-page report published Monday, the committee listed out numerous occasions on which the married Republican had seemingly violated House rules relating to sexual harassment and hostile workplaces, revealing in detail how he made the women in his employ feel uncomfortable or unsafe.The list included “intimate” and expensive dinners, casino dates, strip club visits, expensive gifts, massages, and an insistence on personally handling their yardwork or Christmas tree decorating—which Edwards skipped House votes to make time for.Edwards even wrote and performed poetry for one of his female staffers, hired a singer to perform Ed Sheeran’s “Hills of Aberfeldy” at one of their birthday parties, planned full day excursions with them, and wrote personal notes expressing his “effusive affection.”The committee report also noted that many messages were missing from Edward’s phone, including a photograph that depicted 30 different types of ice cream that he had delivered to one of his staffer’s houses, and her subsequent response that “this seems a bit excessive.”The report found no evidence that Edwards had engaged in sexual activity or “explicitly propositioned” the women, but found plentiful evidence that he had repeatedly made his staff feel scared and uncomfortable with his behavior.Yet Edwards’s exit from the race comes months after the legal deadline to do so (the deadline to withdraw was back in December). As a result, his name will most likely remain on the ballot come November, and any votes he receives will still be counted toward him, as explained by the state Board of Elections.