NC Congressman Edwards Quits Reelection Bid After Committee Finds Inappropriate Conduct

WASHINGTON (AP) — North Carolina Republican congressman Chuck Edwards has withdrawn from his reelection campaign days after the House Ethics Committee recommended he be censured for unprofessional and inappropriate conduct toward two young female aides. The 65-year-old Edwards has denied any of his conduct was intended as a sexual or romantic advance, but the committee says his behavior would “lead a reasonable observer to interpret it as such.” Edwards said Wednesday on X he made the decision to drop his bid for a third term after “much prayer and reflection." The Ethics Committee on Monday recommended the censure, an act registering its deep disapproval of a lawmaker’s conduct that does not meet the threshold for expulsion.