Chuck Edwards

Rep. Chuck Edwards, a second term Republican serving in North Carolina's 11th Congressional District, is reported to be under investigation for an alleged affair with a former aide. Edwards has denied the claims and has suggested they are "designed to impact" his 2026 reelection campaign.

On May 4, Axios published a list of allegations stemming from three anonymous sources that include Edwards allegedly writing a three-page handwritten note telling a departing staffer that she was "the most amazing woman" who had "written a complex chapter in my heart that I will never stop reading" and taking a vacation with her in November 2025. It is against House Ethics rules for members to have sexual relationships with staffers. NOTUS first reported that an alleged long-term affair was the subject of the House Ethics Committee investigation.

The Citizen Times has not independently verified the allegations. However, multiple Edwards spokespeople on May 5 denied the allegations to the Citizen Times.

"They are baseless allegations designed to impact the campaign driven by those who want to settle old political scores. We welcome the ethics inquiry because it allows for facts to be entered into the record, not public allegations designed to drive media interests," Edwards' reelection campaign spokesperson Paul Shumaker told the Citizen Times May 5.

The statement was also sent to the Citizen Times by a spokesperson for Edwards' congressional office. Ethics investigations can take months or years to complete and details are not always released to the public.

Who is Chuck Edwards?

A McDonald's franchise owner and Flat Rock resident, Edwards served in the North Carolina Senate from 2016-2022. Since 1980, he has been married to Teresa Edwards, who is the co-owner of his franchising business, C. Edwards Group, Inc. He also owns a gun shop,

Edwards, who was born in Waynesville, won the 2026 Republican primary by defeating former Green Beret Adam Smith. He faces Fairview farmer Jamie Ager in the November midterm election.

The allegations pose as a legitimate scandal for the representative who pitched himself as a man who doesn't seek the limelight during his 2022 campaign. At the time, Edwards told voters in an advertisement that if they "want celebrity, go watch the Kardashians."

"Chuck Edwards has pitched himself as the grownup in the room," Western Carolina University professor of political science Chris Cooper told the Citizen Times May 5.

"These allegations clearly cut counter to that narrative."

Unlike Rep. Madison Cawthorn — who drew headlines as he faced sexual misconduct allegations, attempted to bring a gun through a major airport and spoke to participants of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection — Edwards has never faced a significant scandal during an election year, but he has faced some hiccups.

In 2023, an employee at one of Edwards' McDonald's shot and killed a woman while breaking the company's firearm policy. In 2024, he was sanctioned by the bipartisan Communications Standards Commission for violating rules on congressional mass communications. In 2025, he was accused of assault at a Rotary Club conference in Asheville. No charges were filed in the incident.

But the ethics investigation comes at a time when House Ethics investigations have taken center stage. Congressional Reps. Eric Swalwell, Tony Gonzales and Shelia Cherfilus-McCormick have resigned in the past month amid House Ethics investigations. Amid those probes and the passage of the Epstein File Transparency Act, efforts to hold members of Congress and those in power accountable — an effort primarily led by women — have taken off.

The allegations feel like a scandal that could change an election.

"It feels like another inflection point, almost similar to the #MeToo movement," Cooper told the Citizen Times..

Local Republican party officials have defended Edwards. In a May 4 newsletter, Henderson County party chair Greg Beam called the allegations "ridiculous" to anyone that knows Edwards or his wife, Teresa. Beam did not respond to a request for comment from the Citizen times.

"Anyone who knows Chuck and Teresa know how ridiculous the accusation is. Chuck is the supreme, hardworking professional," Beam wrote in the newsletter.

Seen as one of the most competitive U.S. House races in the nation this year, Edwards faces Ager in November. Ager has remained relatively quiet since April 30, when Axios first reported on the allegations, but he did acknowledge them online.

"Our leaders should be held to the highest standards. Corruption or abuses of power in any way are unacceptable. The people of Western North Carolina deserve to hear from their representative about what these allegations are," Ager wrote in an April 30 social media post linking to the original news article.

Edwards will likely have to find a way to tell the voters what is happening in his office, Cooper told the Citizen Times May 5.

"He has a lot of explaining to do, and not just to the ethics committee, but to the voters," Cooper said.

Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at [email protected] or message will_hofmann.01 on Signal.