Dem
47
GOP
53
Yet another congressman, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), is alleged to have sexually harassed his staff. There seems to happen an awful lot, including recently Madison Cawthorn (R), Matt Gaetz (R), Tony Gonzales (R), George Santos (R) and Eric Swalwell (D). If you want to go back further, there are even more. It is almost as if people elected to Congress think because they make the laws, they don't have to obey them. It's one or the other.
Edwards is now being investigated by the House Ethics Committee on account of behavior toward two female staffers that the women found inappropriate and which created an uncomfortable work environment. One of them told other people on the staff about Edwards' behavior in real time. The behavior continued even after the staffer stopped working for Edwards. The staffer and Edwards were in Las Vegas together for 3 days in November 2025. It seems unlikely that was a work visit, since Edwards' district is in North Carolina, not in Nevada. Other staff members were concerned about this because Edwards was needed on the floor of the House for a vote. A letter one staffer gave Axios to review said: "You are the most amazing woman. I only wish I could explain the joy and meaning to me for the time we spent together at the office—but especially away from it." Edwards also bought her jewelry and other gifts. It would seem Edwards thinks of himself as a romantic.
However, Edwards has been married for 46 years to someone else. Also, affairs between members and staffers are forbidden by House ethics rules. Maybe Donald Trump could take this problem (potentially losing another vote in the House) and fix it by making an offer to Iran: "I admire your sharia law so I will have an adulterer in my party stoned to death as required by your law if you will open the Strait of Hormuz."
Edwards is running for reelection in his R+5 district in Western North Carolina, which includes the liberal Asheville. His opponent, fourth-generation North Carolina farmer Jamie Ager, is going to have a field day with this. The district is not deep red and in a blue wave, even without this scandal, would be a Democratic target. This makes it worse for the Republicans. Best case for the Democrats is that there is a motion to expel Edwards that gets a majority but not a two-thirds majority and Edwards continues to be the 2026 candidate. Best case for the Republicans is that Edwards resigns from Congress, drops his re-election bid, and the North Carolina Republican Party picks some popular state senator from the district to run in his place. The problem with this scenario is that North Carolina state law does not put any constraints on when the special election is to be held, leaving that to the governor. Gov. Josh Stein (D-NC) will undoubtedly schedule the special election for Nov. 3 "to save the taxpayers money." (V)