Representative Chuck Edwards, Republican of North Carolina, announced overnight that he was dropping his re-election bid.
“After much prayer and reflection, I’ve decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign,” Mr. Edwards wrote on social media at 3:32 a.m. Wednesday. “I will complete my current term.”
The decision came after the House Ethics Committee had recommended on Monday that he be censured for “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.”
The ethics committee report detailed how Mr. Edwards would make “comments” about the women’s “appearance and dress,” shower them with “lavish and recurrent gifts,” invite them to “intimate dinners and vacations” and send notes about his “effusive affection.”
The report said it had found no evidence Mr. Edwards had engaged in sexual activity or “explicitly propositioned” the women but both were “made uncomfortable with his behavior.”
Democrats have nominated Jamie Ager, a fourth-generation farmer with a local political lineage, to try to flip the seat. Mr. Ager’s brother is in the State Legislature, and his grandfather represented the western North Carolina region in Congress.
Democrats had been bullish on their chances against Mr. Edwards, despite the Republican tilt of a district that supported President Trump by 10 percentage points in 2024. It was not immediately clear who would replace Mr. Edwards on the ballot.
