GOP's Mark Harris confirms it was his decision to hire operative at heart of 9th District scandal
Republican Mark Harris is speaking publicly for the first time since the North Carolina State Board of Elections voted to not certify the results of his race for Congress.
Harris beat Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in the unofficial returns from November’s election.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections took a surprise vote to not certify the results of that race in late November, after then-Vice Chairman Joshua Malcolm raised questions of voting irregularities in Bladen and Robeson counties.
On Friday, the NCSBE announced that hearing would actually take place Jan. 11.
Much of the public scrutiny surrounding the investigation has been aimed at a man named McCrae Dowless, a Bladen County political operative who worked as a contractor for the Harris campaign in both this year’s primary and general election.
In his interview with WBTV Friday, Harris confirmed that it was his decision to hire Dowless for his campaign.
Harris said the decision came after his primary loss to Republican Congressman Robert Pittenger in the 2016 campaign, when the candidate who finished third in that contest handily won the absentee ballots in Bladen County.
Harris said that he believed he was hiring Dowless to run an operation that encouraged voters to request absentee ballots and then, later, helped them cast those ballots by witnessing them and making sure voters put them in the mail.
At no time, Harris said, did he think Dowless was doing anything illegal.
At: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article223134435.html
Partners in crime: GOP candidate Mark Harris (right) and his professional ballot stuffer, McCrae Dowless.
The race which put Harris ahead by 905 votes (0.3%), has not been certified by the NC State Board of Eleections.
