Welcome to what is the 806th original profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profile, where we’ll be discussing Mark Harris, a pastor who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 2014, and in 2016, missed out on his shot to upset Congressman Robert Pittenger by all of 900 votes. Part of the reason that folks might not have been elevating Mark Harris to victory could have been that he would blurt out some pretty ludicrous Evangelical fever-dreams, like the time that he promised there wouldn’t be “peace in Israel until Jews and Muslims convert to Christianity”:
“You cannot be in that land, as powerful and as moving as it is, without realizing the incredible tension that is constantly in that land between the Palestinians and the Jews. There will never be peace in Jerusalem until the day comes that every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Jesus, when he went into Jerusalem, said, ‘I am the vine. I am the true vine,’ and until those that are called in Islam realize that and until those that are called in Judaism realize that, for that matter, until those that are caught in the religion of Christianity and are missing the personal relationship with Jesus Christ, realize that, there’ll never be peace in their soul or peace in their city.”
In 2018, however, Harris was not messing around, recruiting some of the dirtiest players in North Carolina on his campaign staff to make sure he was going to beat Pittenger and any Democratic challenger that emerged in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, hiring a chap by the name of McRae Dowless who was known to do things that were decidedly not legal to help whatever campaign he worked on.
As such, when Harris then beat Pittenger by about 900 votes, Pittenger and his campaign staff notified the authorities about exactly the sorts of shenanigans McRae Dowless was up to, specifically, that he and his staff would collect absentee ballots from people in the district, and fill those ballots out to “help” the voters, going down the line and voting for anyone who was paying Dowless. The evidence of chicanery is pretty obvious, considering that somehow Harris won 437 of a possible 456 votes in Bladen County, where Dowless worked his magic. During the general election, investigators became aware of Dowless’ scheme for Harris’ benefit, and even though Mark Harris “won” North Carolina’s 9th by 905 votes over Democrat Cal Cunningham, his victory was never certified by the North Carolina election board and he was never sworn in to serve in Congress.
The press began to report on the scandal, and Harris tried dismissing the accusations as “slander” made up by the “liberal media”, who were just reporting on things that even North Carolina Republicans were acknowledging. He also pleaded with judges to just declare him the winner, despite all the blantant voter fraud committed. As investigations intensified, Harris fled from the press at every stop, including one prolific moment where he was believed to have pulled a fire alarm to cover his escape.
At the trial in February of 2019, Harris’ own son confirmed his father was aware of McCrae Dowless’ scheme, and that he warned his father against committing election fraud. That probably had a lot to do with why Mark Harris did not join the field in the special “do-over” election for North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. At least he has a career as a pastor to fall back on, but people might wonder about his honesty.
We’re just going to remain thrilled he never made it to office.
One Year Ago, December 12th, 2018: Nick Sauer (IL)
Two Years Ago, December 12th, 2017: Dan Johnson (KY)
Three Years Ago, December 12th, 2016: Jim Hagedorn (MN)… 2016 Update
Four Years Ago, December 12th, 2015: Jim Hagedorn (MN)… 2015 Update
Five Years Ago, December 12th, 2014: Jim Hagedorn (MN)… Original Profile