{"id":219569,"date":"2026-08-05T22:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T22:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/republican-chuck-edwards-drops-bid-for-re-election-after-report-finding-sexual-harassment-of-staffers-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T22:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T22:22:12","slug":"republican-chuck-edwards-drops-bid-for-re-election-after-report-finding-sexual-harassment-of-staffers-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/republican-chuck-edwards-drops-bid-for-re-election-after-report-finding-sexual-harassment-of-staffers-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican Chuck Edwards drops bid for re-election after report finding sexual harassment of staffers &#8211; The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Congressional ethics panel had recommended Edwards face censure over its findings on \u2018hostile work environment\u2019<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/live\/2026\/aug\/05\/michigan-primary-race-democrats-midterms-senate-el-sayed-haley-stevens-donald-trump-republicans-us-politics-latest-news-updates\" data-link-name=\"in standfirst link\">US politics live \u2013 latest updates<\/a><br \/>Chuck Edwards announced he would not run for re-election after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/house-of-representatives\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">US House of Representatives<\/a> ethics committee determined the US congressman \u201cfostered a hostile work environment and engaged in sexual harassment\u201d by giving gifts and lavishing attention on two young female staffers.<br \/>Edwards, a Republican for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/northcarolina\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">North Carolina<\/a>, said he would complete his current term, which is due to end in January.<br \/>In a statement posted on social media early on Wednesday morning, Edwards said: \u201cAfter 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.\u201d<br \/>The bipartisan congressional ethics panel recommended on Monday that Edwards face censure over its findings. Should the House agree, he will have to stand in the well of the chamber while the text of a resolution rebuking him is read aloud.<br \/>The ethics committee launched an investigation into Edwards earlier this year, after receiving complaints about his conduct. In a report approved by Democratic and Republican committee members, it said there was \u201csubstantial reason to believe\u201d that Edwards had broken House rules by singling out the two unidentified aides for special treatment that made them uncomfortable and harmed relations with other employees.<br \/>While the investigation uncovered no evidence that Edwards engaged in sexual activity with the staffers or suggested it, his behavior probably violated provisions in the House code of conduct that prohibit sexual harassment and unwanted advances.<br \/>The congressman \u201cacknowledged at least some of the behavior at issue could be viewed as inappropriate\u201d, but \u201chas not acknowledged or taken responsibility for the harm he caused\u201d, the committee wrote in its report.<br \/>Edwards was already viewed as vulnerable to losing re-election to his western North Carolina district in the November midterm elections. Last week the election forecaster Sabato\u2019s Crystal Ball announced it was <a href=\"https:\/\/centerforpolitics.org\/crystalball\/thirteen-house-rating-changes-toward-democrats-as-seat-by-seat-assessment-better-aligns-with-our-november-expectations\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">rating<\/a> his race a \u201ctoss-up\u201d, in a sign of improving Democratic chances.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMilAFBVV95cUxObFhIc1ZLT3dxNjFTLXd6V2F5NG5LMW5uUzhXSndqOW9rOEVOa3JvdlFUTHJDVlIyMnYwUFU4dW9sQUt1aVNfMmRUbjJvZ29VbXZNekNqWDAwT2NISVVqQlVPdFgxSXN2cXd5NWtZckFmMTk2SnhjU1VvYi1vbm9oRUhKcmctam1uTjFaYnFYLWNIcFFN?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Congressional ethics panel had recommended Edwards face censure over its findings on \u2018hostile work environment\u2019US politics live \u2013 latest updatesChuck Edwards announced he would not run for re-election after the US House of Representatives ethics committee determined the US congressman \u201cfostered a hostile work environment and engaged in sexual harassment\u201d by giving gifts and lavishing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":219570,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-219569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}