Mark Harris

Leslie McCrae Dowless is accused of leading a scheme to illegally collect, sign and mail in absentee ballots. An investigation into allegations of fraud overturned a 2018 congressional race.

Candidates have started lining up in the race for North Carolina's Ninth District Congressional seat after November's results were thrown out amid fraud accusations.

North Carolina officials set a Sept. 10 date for a new election for the nation's last unresolved congressional race after the November results were thrown out over concerns of ballot tampering.

Former Governor Pat McCrory says he won't run for the still-vacant seat in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District. Several other Republicans are sizing up their chances in the new election. 

In a hearing on Wednesday, John Harris said he had spoken to his father, Mark Harris, about his concerns with the collection of absentee ballots. Mark Harris is expected to take the stand Thursday.

The Republican holding a slim lead in the country's last undecided congressional election is expected to explain why he stuck with a North Carolina political operative with a shady track record that even the GOP candidate thought about protesting in the past.