Dem in disputed North Carolina race says he’ll run for special election

Dan McCready, the Democratic candidate in the contested race for North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, announced Friday that he will run in a special election to fill the undecided seat.

McCready confirmed he would run during a rally at a brewery in Waxhaw, N.C., The Associated Press reported.

{mosads}The announcement came after the North Carolina State Board of Elections voted 5-0 this week to call for a new election. Republican Mark Harris on Thursday called for a new election saying that allegations of ballot tampering had shaken the public’s confidence in the race’s outcome.

The November vote count showed Harris ahead of McCready by 905 votes. However, state officials refused to certify the results after allegations surfaced that Leslie McCrae Dowless, a political operative hired by Harris’s campaign, paid workers to collect absentee ballots.

Dowless is accused of paying workers to pick up absentee ballots from voters in rural areas, a violation of North Carolina law. State law maintains that only a voter or a close relative can hand in or mail an absentee ballot.

McCready praised the election board’s decision, calling it a “great step forward for democracy.”

“From the moment the first vote was stolen in North Carolina, from the moment the first voice was silenced by election fraud, the people have deserved justice. Today was a great step forward for democracy in North Carolina,” he tweeted.

From the moment the first vote was stolen in North Carolina, from the moment the first voice was silenced by election fraud, the people have deserved justice. Today was a great step forward for democracy in North Carolina. #nc09 #ncpol

— Dan McCready for NC (@McCreadyForNC) February 21, 2019