Chuck Edwards Quits Re-Election Race After Ethics Committee Recommends Censure
The NC-11 congressman is out of the race one day after American Muckrakers called on him to resign. He still refuses to give up the seat.
Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC-11) announced Wednesday he is withdrawing from his re-election campaign, days after the House Ethics Committee released a report finding substantial evidence that he repeatedly made unwanted advances toward two young female staffers and recommended the full House vote to censure him.
Edwards announced the withdrawal in a 3:32 a.m. social media post on August 5, two days after the House Ethics Committee released a report concluding he "fostered a hostile work environment and engaged in sexual harassment" through persistent inappropriate conduct toward two young female staffers. The report detailed gifts including jewelry totaling over $1,000, designer purses, guns, flowers, vacations, and one-on-one dinners, and recommended censure. The full House delivered it on September 1 by a vote of 413 to 2.
The committee's report describes a pattern of behavior including lavish and recurrent gifts to the young women, comments about their appearance and dress, invitations to intimate dinners and vacations, and notes expressing effusive affection. The committee said a reasonable observer would interpret the pattern as sexual harassment, even while concluding it did not violate the letter of federal sexual harassment law.
American Muckrakers called for Edwards' resignation on Tuesday, one day before his announcement, after the ethics report was released. The organization said the committee's findings made clear Edwards could no longer credibly represent the people of Western North Carolina. He has so far refused to resign his seat, saying he will complete his current term.
The political ground had already shifted before he quit. Democrat Jamie Ager had significantly outraised Edwards, the DCCC had added Ager to its Red to Blue program back in February, and Sabato's Crystal Ball moved NC-11 from Leans Republican to Toss-up at the end of July. Multiple outlets reported Sen. Ted Budd told Edwards directly the race was unwinnable.
Edwards says he will serve out his term, a decision the DCCC blasted as protecting the GOP's thin House majority while calling for his immediate resignation. District Republicans, with no second primary available, met and selected state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom to replace him on the November ballot against Ager.
CNN reported that House Republican leaders had been privately pressuring Edwards to drop out after the report landed Monday.
Edwards' Facebook announcement cited "prayer, thoughtful reflection, and many conversations with my family." It did not mention the ethics report.
It caps a short, strange run for the seat: Edwards ousted Madison Cawthorn in the 2022 primary promising to restore the district's dignity, in the chair once held by Mark Meadows.
The documents
Edwards' withdrawal statement is quoted from his own public Facebook post of August 5, 2026, mirrored above. The Committee's findings, his counsel's response, and the underlying exhibits are linked from our coverage of the report.