Republican Mark Harris drops out of the new North Carolina election he backed

Republican Mark Harris will not run again in the new North Carolina congressional election.

Harris announced his decision on Tuesday, saying it's because of his "health situation." He said that his physicians have told him he requires surgery at the end of March and that he owes it to his family to "make the wisest decision for my health."

Harris was the Republican candidate for North Carolina's 9th District in 2018, but after his Democratic opponent, Dan McCready, conceded, the Harris campaign faced allegations of ballot tampering. The race was never officially certified, and a woman earlier this month told the North Carolina Board of Elections that she had falsified absentee ballots and was hired by a political operative working for Harris. Harris's son also testified that he warned his father not to hire this operative, who he previously suspected had launched a ballot fraud scheme.

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The North Carolina Board of Elections ordered a new election, a step Harris called for, after saying it had found evidence of a "coordinated, unlawful and substantially resourced absentee ballot scheme."

In his announcement Tuesday, Harris said voters should support Union County Commissioner Stony Rushing in the upcoming election. McCready has said he will run again.