NC: VOTERS REACT TO REP EDWARDS' EXIT FROM RACE
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HENDERSON COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — Many voters across western North Carolina were surprised to learn Republican U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards announced Wednesday he would not seek reelection, two days after the bipartisan House Ethics Committee recommended he be censured after finding he violated House rules in his interactions with two female staff members.
News 13 asked residents in Hendersonville and Asheville to get their reaction. While some closely follow politics, others said they don’t, and a few weren’t even familiar with Edwards.
Sam Engelhardt, an independent who recently moved to Asheville, said he wishes more people paid attention to local races but understands why many don’t.
“A lot of those elections, people don’t actually really follow,” Engelhardt said. “Sometimes the debates are only online, so you have to seek them out to learn about the candidates.”
Asked who he’d like to see on the ballot, Engelhardt laughed.
“Oh, me,” he said. “I’m more confident in myself than strangers that I don’t know.”
Engelhardt said he knows running for office isn’t easy because candidates often have to compromise to gain support.
“To gain support, a lot of times people end up making compromises in their beliefs,” he said. “It’s hard. You can’t win an election by yourself.”
Tony Varnadore, a Republican in Henderson County, said he was shocked to hear Edwards was ending his campaign.
“I just can’t believe it,” Varnadore said. “He’s such a good guy, and he’s done a lot for Henderson County. I’ve got his phone number. I can call him if I need something or ask him to check into something, and he’d do it.”
He said he got to know Edwards several years ago after working at a boys’ summer camp in Green River that Edwards’ parents operated.
“He grew up in Green River… I worked summer camp for him down there at his camp, and he was just a great guy,” Varnadore said. “He was one of the honest guys that, you know, I can probably count on my right hand how many honest people there are in Washington right now, and I’ve got one finger missing.”
Varnadore said he was skeptical when he heard about the House Ethics Committee’s findings against Edwards.
“My wife told me about it yesterday and said, ‘Did you hear about all that stuff about Chuck?'” Varnadore said. “I said, ‘That’s probably all crap that the Democrats have come up with.'”
Still, Varnadore said it is true, they should be taken seriously. “If anybody ever disrespected my daughters, I’d be upset, very upset.”
He also said he hopes Republican Party leaders choose someone voters can trust.
“I’d like for them to let the voters choose,” Varnador said. “But hopefully we’ve got enough common-sense Republicans who are going to find somebody to replace him who’s going to go with the same agenda that Donald Trump has. He needs all the help he can get.”
Under North Carolina law, the Republican Party’s 11th District Executive Committee, not voters , will choose the GOP nominee to replace Edwards on the November ballot. That’s been the process in North Carolina for more than 100 years when a party nominee drops out after winning the primary.
“Hopefully, there’s somebody the committee can find that would be honest,” Varnadore said. “That’s my big thing, honesty. There’s so many crooked politicians.”
Frank Owenby, a Republican from Henderson County, said he was disappointed to hear Edwards is ending his reelection campaign.
“I know after Helene, we contacted him, and it was like a week or so, we got immediate assistance,” Owenby said. “I’m very disappointed that he’s having to drop out. I think it’s just very unfair.”
Owenby said he questions the timing of the House Ethics Committee investigation against Edwards.
“Well, I feel like if it was very inappropriate, why didn’t it come up earlier?” he said. “Like a lot of the things lately in politics, you can’t keep going back years and years and have someone come up and accuse you of something. I think it’s really getting out of hand, and I hate it’s happening to him.”
Asked whether he would still support Edwards if the allegations proved to be true, Owenby said he would need to see evidence.
“If it was inappropriate, yes,” he said. “But I have my doubts that he’s done anything inappropriate. I’d have to see proof.”
Owenby said he would have preferred for voters, not party leaders, to choose the next Republican nominee.
The voters News 13 spoke with had different perspectives on Edwards and the accusations against him, but they all shared one hope: that whoever ends up on the November ballot will represent western North Carolina well.
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