Raleigh, North Carolina (CNN) Republicans in the North Carolina Legislature are seeking to change state law to guarantee that any call for a new general election in the scandal-plagued 9th Congressional District will also include a rerun of the party primaries.

The GOP-controlled state House and Senate passed the provision on Wednesday, hours before a senior North Carolina Republican official told CNN that party leaders are starting to recognize that the odds are stacked against Mark Harris, the Republican candidate at the center of an election fraud scandal.

The decision by the Legislature is the clearest sign yet that, should there be a new election, Republicans in North Carolina are losing faith that Harris can defeat Democrat Dan McCready, whom he led in the initial, uncertified count.

"This has been difficult for Republicans and it has been hard for them to conceive that Harris was a part of this, but at the same time, as these allegations mount, it is difficult for him to disconnect himself -- regardless of what he did or did not know," the GOP official said.

Harris denied last week in a video posted to his Twitter page having any knowledge of the alleged fraud that has operatives from both parties openly discussing the prospects of an election redo.

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