Chuck Edwards Drops Reelection Bid Following Embarrassing Congressional Investigation

Chuck Edwards Gets Out, Max Miller Stays In

Two Republican representatives under scrutiny for allegations against them have made different decisions over the last 24 hours.

Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) is dropping his bid for reelection. The congressman was accused of sexual harassment, and an investigation by the House Ethics Committee found he made repeated, aggressive and cringe-inducing advances toward two subordinates, including sending one more than 30 cartons of ice cream on one occasion. In another case, Kate Riga wrote, he printed out his text messages with one of the women and drew hearts on them.

Edwards is a staunch Trump supporter and gave the president a “French Fries Certification” pin as he toured damage from Hurricane Helene, seemingly a reference to Edwards’ past as a McDonalds executive. Edwards also got into a confrontation with a constituent in a bizarre incident covered by TPM last year.

Ohio congressman Max Miller is a different story. Facing a deadline today to drop out, he has seemingly been trying to shore up voters’ and/or Trump’s faith in him, demanding the House Ethics Committee investigate allegations of domestic abuse and violence lodged against him and going on CNN last night in an attempt to rebut various allegations. (He claimed, for example, he had not used illegal drugs in “several years,” and that needles seen by his bed were for testosterone replacement therapy, something he noted Pete Hegseth approves of for “our entire military who are males.”) Nicole Lafond covered that bizarre cable appearance here.

Both are in tight races. Election prognosticators had in recent days given Democrats a better chance in Edwards’ NC-11, the district covering most of Western North Carolina. His exit may give Republicans time to replace him on the ballot with a stronger opponent to face Democrat Jamie Ager, a farmer.

Republicans have the opposite problem in Miller’s district, OH-7. Though Trump won it by 11, a June poll showed him leading Democrat Brian Poindexter, an iron worker, by just one point.

Right-Wing Ballot Measures Flame Out

While we don’t yet have results in the most closely-watched race of the evening — the Michigan Democratic primary — an important theme emerged far down the ballot on Tuesday: Voters in red states rejecting ballot measures designed to give conservatives more control.

• In Kansas, voters opposed by a healthy margin a push by conservative activists, including the state’s notorious attorney general Kris Kobach, to switch the state to electing judges.
• As Kate Riga writes, this was the latest sneaky attempt by Republicans to overturn a 2019 ruling protecting abortion rights in the state. They continue to fail.
• In Missouri, meanwhile, voters resoundingly rejected two ballot measures: one designed to make amending the state constitution through a voter initiative virtually impossible, and one that would have done away with the state’s income tax.

Tabs

• The Missouri secretary of state waited until the last minute to reject an effort by hundreds of people in the state to put Republicans new, 7-1 gerrymander of the state’s congressional map up for a voter referendum. The decision — which, Kate writes, “seemed to mostly rest on the fact that the ability to challenge a map is not explicitly written into the state constitution” — was immediately challenged in court. TPM obtained the lawsuit, which you can read here.
• Texas Governor Greg Abbott has a Stop the Steal-promoting “election integrity” advisor who is engaged in spiritual battle against demons, Texas Monthly writes.

Woman of the Hour

It’s Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who has concerns about Todd Blanche and will not be voting for him. Blanche needs one of two still-undecided Republicans — Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — in order to have enough votes for confirmation. The whole thing with Collins is that she usually only votes “no” on Trump administration priorities when there are enough “yes” votes that hers isn’t needed. We’ll see if, in this tough election year, anything is different this time around.

Are We at War?

Yes, as we run out of defensive weapons.