Editorial: A censure isn’t enough. Congressman Chuck Edwards of NC should resign
When Chuck Edwards defeated the embattled, embarrassing Congressman Madison Cawthorn in 2022, it felt like a victory for all North Carolinians who were tired of an elected official making their state look bad.
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Edwards said at the time that, unlike Cawthorn, he was a guy who would take the job seriously, not get caught up in personal pursuits or scandals. But it seems he just couldn’t help himself, because now, Edwards has become an embattled and embarrassing distraction, too.
The bipartisan House Ethics Committee issued a report Monday citing “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct” by Edwards toward two young female staffers. The congressman from Henderson County, who is seeking reelection in November, violated House rules related to sexual harassment and hostile workplaces, the committee concluded.
The ethics panel recommended censure. But for the sake of his 11th Congressional District and all of North Carolina, Edwards should resign.
The details of Edwards’ behavior are troubling enough. They are the stuff of lawsuits and HR training modules. According to the report, Edwards showed “increasingly unusual attention” to the two young female staffers. That included commenting on their appearance, showering them with gifts, inviting them to intimate dinners and vacations, and expressing “deeply personal and seemingly romantic” sentiments. On multiple occasions, it interfered with his duties as a congressman, including instances in which Edwards skipped votes in the House and canceled town halls to spend time with the staffers.
But what’s most troubling — and disqualifying — is his complete failure to take responsibility for his behavior. Months ago, when the allegations were first reported in the media, Edwards suggested they were lies concocted by vengeful people trying to hurt his campaign. Now that those reports have been confirmed, and more disturbing details have been revealed, Edwards doesn’t even have the decency to act ashamed. Instead, he insists that the committee’s findings “completely exonerate” him, because they proved he did not engage in sexual activity with any staffer or explicitly proposition them. When asked by the committee whether he should have acted differently toward his young staffers, his response was, “I’m going to say no.”
What an awful message to send to the women who were personally and professionally hurt by his behavior. Edwards makes no acknowledgment of the harm he caused to his former staffers, but rather dismisses it outright. Worse, he’s played the victim card, insisting that the real harm was done to him.
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Edwards appears to believe that he is free to trample on personal boundaries and shatter the norms of professional behavior, so long as he does not do so in a physical or overtly sexual manner. That is a stunningly arrogant and reckless belief.
Yet there is reason to believe Edwards knew exactly what he was doing, or at least how it would be perceived. He ensured private outings with the staffers were arranged by him personally and left off of his official schedule — so others would not know about them — and he admitted to deleting key messages that “might have been interpreted in a way that it wasn’t intended.”
The behavior exhibited by Edwards would be unacceptable anywhere. That it was exhibited by someone holding elected office only makes it worse. At the very least, we expect our elected officials to exhibit good judgment and good character. Edwards has shown a concerning lack of both.
For too many years, the 11th District has been represented by a revolving door of leaders who spent more time embarrassing their constituents than they did serving them. If Edwards continues to seek reelection, voters in that district will soon have the opportunity to seek accountability themselves. But the people of western North Carolina shouldn’t have to spend the next five months represented by someone who failed to show up for them because he was too busy being a creep.
In his official response to the committee’s report, Edwards called censure an “extraordinarily harsh” punishment. Frankly, it isn’t harsh enough. In any other workplace, Edwards would be out of a job. His conduct is a disservice to his constituents and a disgrace to our state. His staggering lack of remorse only reinforces the inevitable conclusion: he must resign.
The Charlotte Observer and Raleigh News & Observer editorial boards combined in 2019 to provide fuller and more diverse North Carolina opinion content to our readers. The editorial board operates independently from the newsrooms in Charlotte and Raleigh and does not influence the work of the reporting and editing staffs. The combined board is led by N.C. Opinion Editor Peter St. Onge, who is joined in Charlotte by deputy opinion editor Paige Masten. Board members also include Observer editor Matt Leclercq and News & Observer editor Nicole Stockdale. For questions about the board or our editorials, email [email protected].
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