众议员查克·爱德华兹周三放弃了竞选北卡罗来纳州一个竞争激烈席位的竞选，此前一个道德委员会发布了一份调查报告，发现“有充分证据”显示该国会议员多次对两名女性工作人员做出不受欢迎的骚扰。
“经过多次祈祷和反思，我决定退出我的连任竞选。我会完成目前的任期。为西北卡罗来纳州服务是我一生的荣幸。感谢您的信任、祈祷和支持。愿上帝保佑WNC，也保佑美国。“爱德华兹在X的社交媒体帖子中说道。
两位熟悉内部讨论的人士告诉CNN，众议院共和党领导人一直在私下努力说服爱德华兹放弃竞选该席位，因为道德报告于周一发布。
当众议院的伦理委员会罕见地建议全院投票惩罚爱德华兹时，众议院高层共和党人陷入了慌乱。
众议员们在八月休会期间回到各自选区。最早的投票时间是九月，但共和党领导人认为投票会成功，并进一步损害他的连任前景。担忧源于他们越来越担心他在北卡罗来纳州西部的席位可能在十一月翻盘。
西北卡罗来纳州的共和党领导层将于下周召开会议，选出爱德华兹的继任者。
爱德华兹竞选团队发言人周一表示，伦理委员会的调查结果“完全为爱德华兹议员开脱了众议院关于性不当或骚扰的规则”，其结论显示该议员“并未违反联邦性骚扰法”。
竞选发言人兼策略师保罗·舒梅克表示：“爱德华兹期待洗清自己的名声，并将努力确保这一过程得到充分关注。”
CNN早前联系爱德华兹，询问对共和党领导人推动的评论。
党内领导人还有其他潜在障碍：共和党仍在处理在选举周期如此晚期替换他的程序性问题。爱德华兹轻松击败了一名共和党挑战者，赢得了三月的初选。
党内已经对爱德华兹能否赢得该选区感到明显焦虑，而特朗普在2024年曾以9．5个百分点获胜。参选的民主党人、农民杰米·阿格在上季度筹集资金几乎是爱德华兹的9倍。
道德委员会周一表示，“有充分理由相信爱德华兹议员违反了关于性骚扰和敌对职场的众议院规则。”
委员会建议众议院投票谴责爱德华兹。谴责是议会中最严厉的惩罚形式之一，尽管它不会罢免议员，且除了公开警告外没有明确的处罚。
根据委员会报告，这位国会议员否认他的行为“有意于性或浪漫的追求”，同时也未发现爱德华兹与这些女性“发生性关系”的证据。
Rep． Chuck Edwards abandons reelection bid after ethics panel report released
Rep． Chuck Edwards abandoned his reelection bid for a competitive North Carolina seat on Wednesday， after an ethics panel released aninvestigationthat found “substantial evidence” the congressman repeatedly made unwanted advances toward two female staffers．
“After much prayer and reflection， I’ve 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． God bless WNC and America，” Edwards said in a social mediaposton X．
House Republican leaders had been privately working to convince Edwards to abandon his bid for the seat after the ethics report dropped on Monday， two people familiar with internal discussions told CNN．
Top House Republicans were sent scrambling when the chamber’s ethics panel took the rare step of recommending that the full House vote to punish Edwards．
House members are in their home districts for August recess． The earliest a vote would take place would be in September， but GOP leaders believed it will succeed and would further damage his reelection prospects． The fears come as they’re increasingly worried his western North Carolina seat could flip in November．
Republican leadership in western North Carolina will meet next week to select a replacement for Edwards on the November ballot．
A spokesman for Edwards’ campaign had said Monday that the ethics committee’s findings “completely exonerate Representative Edwards under the House rules governing sexual misconduct or harassment” and that its conclusion showed the congressman “did not violate federal sexual harassment law．”
Edwards “looks forward to having his name cleared and will work to ensure that the full light of day is brought on this process，” said Paul Shumaker， a spokesperson and strategist for the campaign．
CNN reached out to request comment from Edwards earlier on the push by GOP leaders．
There are other potential hurdles for party leaders： Republicans are still sorting out the procedural questions of replacing him on the ballot so late in the cycle． Edwards easily defeated a GOP challenger to win his primary in March．
Inside the party， there was already palpable anxiety over Edwards’ ability to win in a district that Trump won by 9．5 points in 2024． The Democrat in the race， farmer Jamie Ager， outraised Edwards bynearly 9-to-1last quarter．
The ethics panel said Monday that “there was substantial reason to believe Representative Edwards violated House Rules related to sexual harassment and hostile workplaces．”
The committee recommended the House vote to censure Edwards． A censure is one of the most severe forms of punishment in the chamber， though it does not remove a member and carries no explicit penalties beyond a public admonition．
The congressman denied that his behavior was “intended as a sexual or romantic advance，” according to the committee’s report， which also said it found no evidence that Edwards “engaged in sexual activity” with the women．
