Rep. Chuck Edwards drops re-election bid after censure recommendation over harassment claims

WASHINGTON — Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., said Wednesday he is dropping his bid for re-election, days after the House Ethics Committee recommended he be censured over sexual harassment allegations.

“After much prayer and reflection, I’ve decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign. I will complete my current term,” Edwards announced in a post on X. “Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life. Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support.”

Edwards, 65, had faced mounting pressure over his conduct with two female staffers in his office. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

On Monday, the Ethics panel said it was recommending that the full House censure Edwards after it found that he “engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.” A censure is a formal disapproval by the House.

“The Committee found that Representative Edwards violated the House Code of Official Conduct by failing to adhere to the spirit of rules prohibiting sexual harassment of and unwanted advances to House staffers,” the Ethics Committee said in its 25-page report following a monthslong investigation into allegations against him.

The bipartisan panel said Edwards denied that any of his actions were intended to be sexual or romantic in nature. He cooperated with the investigation, according to the report.

The committee said it found no evidence that Edwards engaged in sexual activity with or propositioned any of his staffers. It also concluded that the allegations “do not implicate quid pro quo sexual harassment” or violate “the ‘letter’ of federal sexual harassment law.”

But the panel added that “his pattern of behavior would lead a reasonable observer to interpret it as such, including providing the young women with lavish and recurrent gifts, making comments regarding their appearance and dress, inviting them to intimate dinners and vacations, sending notes regarding his effusive affection, and inviting them to other activities as a way to spend time together.”

Edwards had been endorsed by President Donald Trump last year and had been set to face Democrat Jamie Ager, a farmer, in the November election.

Democrats believed the seat could flip, given the embarrassing Ethics report and the fact that Ager had significantly outraised Edwards. Before the release of the report, the Cook Political Report rated the race as “Lean Republican.”

State election law allows GOP officials from the counties in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District to meet and select a new nominee, which the state Republican Party announced they would do next week. The party did not provide timing details.

Edwards has not been in Congress long.

A former state lawmaker, he ousted Rep. Madison Cawthorn in the GOP primary in 2022 but kept a low profile on Capitol Hill, unlike his predecessor, before the ethics probe. Before that, the seat in far western North Carolina was held by Republican Mark Meadows, the former Freedom Caucus chairman who went on to become White House chief of staff during Trump’s first term.

Edwards previously called the allegations “baseless” and said in a statement to NBC News in May that he welcomed an investigation. His counsel wrote a 15-page rebuttal to the committee’s findings, calling them “unfounded.”