{"id":28755,"date":"2026-08-05T16:42:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T11:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=28755"},"modified":"2026-08-05T16:42:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T11:42:43","slug":"breaking-embatted-house-republican-wont-seek-reelection-amid-house-ethics-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=28755","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Embatted House Republican Won\u2019t Seek Reelection Amid House Ethics Probe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5726066\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5726066\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5726066\" src=\"https:\/\/am14.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP25084697619411-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5726066\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Tom Williams\/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rep. <strong>Chuck Edwards<\/strong> (R-NC) has dropped his reelection bid, days after a House Ethics Committee report found he violated Congress&#8217; rules against sexual harassment.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;After much prayer and reflection, I\u2019ve decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign,&#8221; Edwards said in <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/repchuckedwards\/status\/2084905422482178109\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an X post<\/a>. &#8220;I will complete my current term. Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life. Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless WNC and America.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed_container\" id=\"05a72828952284c7456740ada3503b21\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">After much prayer and reflection, I\u2019ve decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign. I will complete my current term. Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life. Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless WNC and America.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Congressman Chuck Edwards (@RepChuckEdwards) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepChuckEdwards\/status\/2084905422482178109?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>The announcement came amid a slew of allegations against the congressman as the Ethics Committee&#8217;s report found Edwards failed \u201cto adhere to the spirit of rules prohibiting sexual harassment of and unwanted advances to House staffers\u201d and urged his censure, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/08\/03\/chuck-edwards-house-ethics-sexual-harassment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Axios reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Just this week, <em>The Charlotte Observer\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0deputy opinion editor\u00a0<strong>Paige Masten<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/paigemasten\/status\/2084373396964487318\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">posted on X<\/a> that Edwards <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/gop-lawmaker-skipped-votes-to-go-to-staffers-home-let-me-know-where-i-can-find-your-key\/\">told a female staffer<\/a> he was \u201cbeyond thrilled\u201d to skip votes and cancel town halls to help her decorate her Christmas tree.<\/p>\n<p>Other explosive details emerging from reporting by Axios\u2019s <strong>Kate Santaliz<\/strong> included allegations that Edwards gave female staffers \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/politics\/house-republican-under-investigation-for-alleged-sexual-harassment-gave-pink-and-blue-handguns-to-2-female-staffers-report\/\">personalized handguns<\/a>\u201d as gifts and once <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/politics\/gop-lawmaker-made-young-staffer-uncomfortable-with-flowers-and-tear-filled-poem-recital\/\">recited<\/a>\u00a0a poem to an \u201cuncomfortable\u201d young woman.<\/p>\n<p>Edwards, 65, has denied any wrongdoing in the Ethics Committee\u2019s probe. He told Axios in May that\u00a0the sexual harassment allegations against him were \u201chorsesh*t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Edwards was one of many current and former lawmakers recently investigated by the House Ethics Committee, including\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/just-in-house-ethics-committee-announces-investigation-into-another-member-of-congress\/\">Lance Gooden<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(R-TX),\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/politics\/house-ethics-committee-launches-investigation-into-eric-swalwell-after-sexual-misconduct-claims\/\">Eric Swalwell<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(D-CA),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/politics\/breaking-florida-democrat-resigns-from-congress-amid-corruption-investigation\/\"><strong>Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(D-FL),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/politics\/house-ethics-committee-probing-yet-another-congressman-over-sexual-misconduct-allegations-report\/\"><strong>Tony Gonzalez<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(R-TX),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/cory-mills-defiant-as-reporters-grill-him-on-accusations-and-refusal-to-leave-congress-why-havent-you-resigned\/\"><strong>Cory Mills<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>(R-FL), and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/politics\/just-in-nancy-mace-under-house-ethics-investigation\/\"><strong>Nancy Mace<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(R-SC).<\/p>\n<p>Edwards, who represents North Carolina\u2019s 11th District, was elected in November 2022 after defeating\u00a0<strong>Madison Cawthorn<\/strong> in the Republican primary.<\/p>\n<p><em>This is a developing story and will be updated.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/breaking-embatted-house-republican-wont-seek-reelection-amid-house-ethics-probe\/\">BREAKING: Embatted House Republican Won\u2019t Seek Reelection Amid House Ethics Probe<\/a> first appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\">Mediaite<\/a>.<\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Tom Williams\/CQ Roll Call via AP Images) Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) has dropped his reelection bid, days after a House Ethics Committee report found he violated Congress&#8217; rules against sexual harassment. &#8220;After much prayer and reflection, I\u2019ve decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign,&#8221; Edwards said in an X post. &#8220;I will complete my current&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/am14.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP25084697619411-1-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsweek-trending"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}