GOP candidate's son says he warned him about North Carolina political operative embroiled in scandal

(Image credit: Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP, Pool)

published 21 February 2019

The son of Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris testified in front of the North Carolina State Board of Elections on Wednesday that he cautioned his father against hiring a political operative who used illegal tactics in earlier elections.

The Board of Elections is investigating allegations of voter fraud in November's election in the 9th Congressional District; the race is still undecided, with Harris leading Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes. John Harris, an assistant U.S. attorney in North Carolina, testified that he told his father that he believed political operative McCrae Dowless illegally collected absentee ballots while working for another Republican candidate in 2016. Despite his son's warning, Mark Harris hired Dowless for his 2018 campaign.

On Monday, Dowless' stepdaughter testified that he hired her to collect absentee ballots, and when she picked up a ballot that was unsealed or not fully filled out, she would mark the Republican candidates. John Harris said he has "no reason to believe that my father or mother knew Dowless was doing the things that have been described. I think they were lied to, and they believed the person who lied to them." Mark Harris, who has said he knew nothing about Dowless' tactics, is expected to testify on Thursday.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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