Infamous

An infamous Republican might be on his way to Congress

Mark Harris is on the precipice of winning a GOP primary for safely red congressional seat in North Carolina.

ZACH MONTELLARO

North Carolina Republican Mark Harris is leading in his primary in North Carolina’s 8th District — just teetering above the threshold to avoid a runoff.

If that name sounds familiar to you, it is because his apparent victory in a similar district in 2018 was tossed out after an operative hired by his campaign allegedly masterminded a scheme to collect and mark absentee ballots. (That operative died before he went to trial.)

A do-over election was ordered — Harris didn't run again — that Republican Dan Bishop narrowly won, and most assumed that Harris' political career was over.

But Harris announced a comeback bid last year — and despite an effort from a pair of deep-pocketed super PACs to stop him, he could still be headed to Washington.

Harris is at 30.4 percent in the GOP primary, just above the 30 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff. With him that close to that line, The Associated Press is unlikely to call the race until every vote is counted — and potentially not until the election is certified in the coming days.

If he manages to stay above 30 percent, his ride to Washington is basically assured. The 8th District is a deep red seat. Should he dip below that number, second place finisher Allan Baucom could request a runoff on May 14.