This congressional hopeful’s mad-dash set off alarms.
Mark Harris, the Republican candidate for North Carolina’s ninth district, slipped through an emergency exit door following a Monday event, apparently to dodge reporters, local outlets reported.
But the pastor-turned-politician later claimed he wasn’t running from the press — just rushing home to catch the college football championship game.
“Sorry I missed you guys tonight,” Harris tweeted. “I had to get to the kickoff of the #NationalChampionship game. We’ll have plenty to talk about in the days ahead. #GoTigers.”
Harris had just finished speaking to a group of people at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center Monday evening when journalists gathered to ask him questions.
Instead of addressing them, Harris made his escape through a side door, and an unidentified man reportedly tried to block journalists from following him.
The candidate then sprinted across the street to a church parking lot and hopped into a car, speeding off in the opposite direction of reporters.
Video posted by WSOC9 journalist Joe Bruno shows reporters pursuing Harris in the dark and yelling questions at the candidate, as he darts away without looking back. A blaring alarm can be heard in the background.
“Mark Harris can run from the media, but he can’t hide from the truth. The people deserve answers,” tweeted Harris’ democratic opponent, Dan McCready.
Harris leads McCready by just over 900 votes in the Nov. 6 election, but the state board of elections refused to certify the results, leaving 780,000 residents with no representation for now.
The election dispute stems from allegations of fraud over absentee ballots. The North Carolina Democratic party claims absentee ballots were illegally collected by people working to elect Harris.
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