Mark Harris, who directed the hiring of Leslie McCrae Dowless for his campaign, said he would not run in the do-over election. | Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP, Pool Elections Political operative in tainted North Carolina House race indicted

The political operative at the center of the election fraud scandal in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District, Leslie McCrae Dowless, was indicted today by the Wake County district attorney's office.

Dowless faces three felony counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and two counts of possession of absentee ballots.


The district attorney's office says it met with investigators for the North Carolina State Board of Elections, which ordered a new election in the 9th District last week after hearing testimony about absentee ballot tampering allegedly masterminded by Dowless, who worked for the consulting firm involved in Republican Mark Harris' 2018 campaign.

Dowless “unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously did, with deceit and intent to defraud, obstruct public and legal justice” by tampering with absentee ballots to “make it appear that those ballots had been voted and executed in compliance” with the law, according to the indictment filed by the district attorney.

Caitlyn Croom, Matthew Mathis, Tonia Gordon and Rebecca Thompson were also charged, each on one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and one count of absentee ballot possession. Mathis faces additional charges of falsely signing the voter certification on an absentee ballot.

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The actions taken by Dowless resulted in the counting of “spoiled absentee ballots,” the indictment said.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Dowless’ bond was set at $30,000 by a Wake County judge, and he was ordered to have no contact with anyone named in the indictments.

Dowless' alleged absentee ballot tampering threw the 9th District in North Carolina into turmoil for the last four months. Harris led Democrat Dan McCready by less than 1,000 votes in the unofficial ballot count after the midterms, but the board of elections never certified the results over fraud concerns and instead launched the investigation that led last week to the call for a new election.

In a statement, the board's executive director called the charges a "stern warning" to would-be election meddlers.

“These indictments should serve as a stern warning to anyone trying to defraud elections in North Carolina,” said Kim Westbrook Strach, executive director of the North Carolina elections board. “Today is a new and better day for elections in our state.”

On Tuesday, Harris, who directed the hiring of Dowless for his campaign, said he would not run in the do-over election. Harris cited health reasons for his decision to not run again. After Harris’ son testified to the election board that he warned his father about the tactics used by Dowless, Harris also called for a new election.

McCready has already hit the campaign trail in the new election. In his statement taking himself out of the running, Harris endorsed Union County Commissioner Stony Rushing, but the GOP primary could be a crowded and unpredictable contest.