2019 North Carolina's 9th congressional district special election

2019 North Carolina's 9th congressional district special election

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North Carolina's 9th congressional district
 
Nominee Dan Bishop Dan McCready
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 96,573 92,785
Percentage 50.69% 48.70%

County results
Bishop:      40–50%      50–60%
McCready:      50–60%

U.S. Representative before election

Vacant
Republican

Elected U.S. Representative

Dan Bishop
Republican

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.[1] 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.[2] After hearing evidence, including testimony from Harris himself and his own son, the board unanimously voted on February 21 to call a new election.[3][4]

The primary was held on May 14, 2019, and the general election was held on September 10. A total of 10 Republican candidates qualified for the primary.[5] Dan McCready, the Democratic Party nominee in the 2018 election, ran again and faced no primary opposition.[6] Among Republicans, neither Harris nor Robert Pittenger, the incumbent whom Harris defeated in the 2018 primary election, filed to run.[7][8][9]

After winning the Republican primary by a large margin,[10] Dan Bishop narrowly won the general election, garnering 50.7% of the vote to McCready's 48.7%.[11][12]

  1. ^ Murphy, Brian; Morrill, Jim (February 15, 2019). "All mail-in ballots in Bladen, Robeson were tainted, McCready says in asking for re-do". The News & Observer. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  2. ^ New NC elections board sets date for 9th District hearing, WRAL, February 4, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  3. ^ Caldwell, Leigh Ann (February 21, 2019). "New election ordered in North Carolina House district after possible illegal activities". NBC News. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  4. ^ Mutnick, Ally [@allymutnick] (February 21, 2019). "BREAKING: All 5 members of @NCSBE unanimously vote for a new election in #NC09 This will be the first redo congressional election in over 40 years" (Tweet). Retrieved February 21, 2019 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "CANDIDATE LIST GROUPED BY CONTEST" (PDF). ncsbe.gov. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  6. ^ Harris, John F. (December 10, 2018). "North Carolina Democrat preparing for special election in contested congressional race". Politico. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  7. ^ "Robert Pittenger won't run in 9th district special election". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  8. ^ "Rep. Robert Pittenger Won't Run Even if 'Ballot Harvesting' Probe Causes Primary Do-Over". Rollcall.com. January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  9. ^ Barrón-López, Laura [@lbarronlopez] (March 4, 2019). "NEW: @NCSBE orders dates for #NC09 special election: PRIMARY will be May 14 GENERAL will be Sept. 10 If 2nd primary is needed, it will be on Sept. 10 and general will be moved to Nov. 5" (Tweet). Retrieved March 4, 2019 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference primary results was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Live results: North Carolina elections, Politico, September 10, 2019.
  12. ^ Republican Dan Bishop wins special election for House seat in North Carolina special election, NBC News projects, NBC News, September 10, 2019.