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election bid after sexual harassment probe
Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Rep. Chuck Edwards on Wednesday said he won't seek re-election, a day after the House Ethics Committee recommended he be censured over "inappropriate" relationships with young female staff members.
Edwards, R-N.C., said he would complete his current term.
"After much prayer and reflection, I've decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign," he wrote in a statement on X.
"Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life," the congressman added.
Republicans in the House and in North Carolina had privately pushed for Edwards to quit his campaign, as they only have until Monday to replace him on the ballot, Politico reported.
On Tuesday, the House Ethics Committee had recommended he be censured over "highly unprofessional" treatment of two young female staffers.
The women, one 19-year-old and another in her 20s, had first worked with Edwards in North Carolina but were hired by his office in Washington, D.C., when he was elected to the House in 2023.
In a 25-page report, investigators said Edwards gave the women lavish gifts that included jewelry, vacations and tickets to the Broadway show Hamilton.
"Taken individually, many of Representative Edwards' actions were at minimum inappropriate," the report said.
"A Member of Congress should not single out a staffer and isolate them from other staff, make frequent comments regarding that person's appearance and weight, send messages in the middle of the night, text staff deeply personal and seemingly romantic thoughts, intrude on personal occasions without invitation, pay for personal vacations, and spend thousands of dollars on gifts for staffers," the report continued.
Responding to the accusations, campaign spokesperson Paul Shumaker said the committee's findings "completely exonerate Representative Edwards," The Hill reported.
His legal team added the congressman "neither engaged in sexual activity with nor explicitly propositioned any individual staff member."
But the Ethics Committee said Edwards "violated the spirit of the House's prohibition on sexual harassment and unwanted advances."
"That Representative Edwards did all these things to two young staffers, repeatedly over a sustained period, was beyond inappropriate," the report said.