The North Carolina Republican Party quickly put out a statement on Mark Harris’ call for a new election in the 9th District, saying that they “respect Dr. Harris’ decision on behalf of the voters.”
The statement lavished praise on the Board of Elections and wished Harris a speedy recovery from the strokes he mentioned in his abrupt call for a new election. The statement also, however, carefully avoided promising the state party’s support should there be a new election.
“We respect Dr. Harris’ decision on behalf of the voters. This has been a tremendously difficult situation for all involved and we wish him the best as he recovers from his illness and subsequent complications. We will continue to work with legislators and investigators on how we can improve the electoral system so that these kinds of situations can be avoided in the future. The people of North Carolina deserve nothing less than the full confidence and trust in the electoral system. We’d like to thank the hard-working staff and members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections for their professionalism and dedication in this investigation.”
Notably, should the board of elections agree to a new election, new primaries would have to take place as well.
