North Carolina GOP House candidate Mark Harris is being urged to stay on the sidelines in a new election that has been ordered after results from last Nov. 6 proved tainted, The Washington Times reported.
The pressure to quit the do-over race is coming not only from fellow North Carolina Republicans but his own wife, Beth, the Times reported, citing sources close to the family.
According to the news outlet, Harris is not only marred by the scandal but also faces potential federal charges, his campaign is broke, and he is in poor health.
He gave up the fight for his election victory after his son, an assistant U.S. attorney in North Carolina, testified he had warned his father something was fishy about the campaign's absentee ballot program, the Times reported.
The State Board of Elections last week ordered the new election after four days of hearings on illegal absentee-ballot harvesting that tainted Nov. 6 results showing Harris beat Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes.
The seat will likely remain empty until nearly the end of the year, the news outlet reported.
Paul Shumaker, a GOP political consultant in North Carolina, told the Times he is expecting the race to become a referendum on President Donald Trump.
"Whether Republicans want it that way or not, that's how it is going to play out," he told the news outlet. "There's a lot at stake here."