2019 North Carolina's 9th congressional district special election


A special election was held on September 10, 2019, to fill the vacancy in North Carolina's 9th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for the remainder of the 116th United States Congress. The seat had been vacant since the opening of the 116th Congress, following the refusal of the North Carolina State Board of Elections to certify the results of the November 2018 election in the district due to allegations of electoral fraud. Because of the allegations, the race received substantial national attention.
In the original election, Mark Harris, a Republican, led Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in the unofficial returns for the 2018 North Carolina's 9th congressional district election. However, allegations of fraud in the election prevented its certification. The North Carolina State Board of Elections set an evidentiary hearing to begin on February 18, 2019. After hearing evidence, including testimony from Harris himself and his own son, the board unanimously voted on February 21 to call a new election.
The primary was held on May 14, 2019, with the general election to be held on September 10. The filing period for candidates ended on March 15. A total of 13 candidates qualified for the primary, among them 10 Republicans, 1 Democrat, 1 Libertarian and 1 Green. Dan McCready, the Democratic Party nominee in the 2018 election, ran again and faced no primary opposition. Among Republicans, neither Harris nor Robert Pittenger, the incumbent whom Harris defeated in the 2018 primary election, filed to run.
With the announcement by the State Board ordering a new election, this became one of two congressional special elections in North Carolina in 2019, the other being the 3rd district's special election held on the same day. This was the first time two U.S. House special elections were held in the same state on the same day since the May 3, 2008, elections in Louisiana's 1st district and 6th district.
Bishop narrowly won the election with 50.7% of the vote to McCready's 48.7%.

Background

The 2018 congressional district election ended with Republican Mark Harris leading Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes, the closest race in the district in over sixty years. While McCready had conceded defeat, the North Carolina Democratic Party alleged that electoral fraud had taken place, and filed affidavits with the North Carolina State Board of Elections alleging that independent contractors working on behalf of Harris had illegally collected absentee ballots. The North Carolina Board of Elections voted unanimously not to certify the election and later ordered an evidentiary hearing to be held. The board also opened an investigation around the activities of Leslie McCrae Dowless, a campaign operative with felony fraud and perjury convictions, who was hired by the Harris campaign. Incoming Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced that the United States House of Representatives would not seat Harris until the fraud investigation had been completed.
After a delay caused by restructuring of the Board of Elections and delayed appointment of members by Republican allies of Harris, the board set hearings to begin on February 18, 2019. On that day the regulator reported that it had found evidence of "a coordinated, unlawful and substantially resourced absentee ballot scheme" that may have involved more than 1,000 ballots or ballot request forms. On February 20, Harris's son, John Harris, a federal prosecutor in North Carolina, testified to the election board that he had repeatedly warned his father not to hire Dowless because Dowless appeared to have previously engaged in illegal tactics to win votes.
On February 21, Harris announced that "the public's confidence in the ninth district seat general election has been undermined to an extent that a new election is warranted." The Board of Elections voted unanimously to call a special election, with a primary if necessary on May 14, to fill the vacancy. This is the first House of Representatives election to require a do-over since 1974.
Leslie McCrae Dowless was indicted and arrested on February 27, 2019. He faced felony charges of obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and two possession of absentee ballots charges. In July 2019, the Wake County district attorney also announced charges against Lisa Britt, Ginger S. Eason, Woody D. Hester, James Singletary, Jessica Dowless and Kelly Hendrix, and additional charges against Leslie McCrae Dowless.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

Candidates

Declared

, the Democratic candidate, ran on a platform of cutting taxes on the middle class, ending gerrymandering, renegotiating trade deals, and reducing military interventions overseas. His platform also supports protecting Social Security and Medicare, overturning Citizens United, and granting full federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe. Republican candidate Dan Bishop is best known for his opposition to LGBT rights, particularly the drafting of North Carolina's "Bathroom Bill".
During the early voting period for this election, Hurricane Dorian battered the eastern coast of the United States, necessitating early voting to be halted in several counties on the Outer Banks and elsewhere on the coast until the storm had passed.

Predictions

Endorsements

Polling

;with Mark Harris
Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Mark
Harris 		Dan
McCready 		Undecided
December 2018––43%46%11%

;with generic Republican and Dan McCready
Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Generic
Republican		Dan
McCready 		OtherUndecided
May 21–24, 2019350± 5.2%52%41%2%2%
February 24–25, 2019518± 4.3%46%50%––

;with generic Republican and generic Democrat
Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Generic
Republican		Generic
Democrat		Undecided
May 20–30, 2019358± 5.2%46%38%16%
December 2018––45%36%19%

Fundraising

Results

County results