Press release from Bruce Macdonald:
Today the Henderson County (North Carolina) Democratic Party filed a complaint against 11th District Congressman Chuck Edwards alleging that a recent mailer that was delivered throughout the 11th Congressional District was a violation of federal law, which prohibits taxpayer funded communications that are “politicized” and that “disparage political parties.”
“The mailer that I received and that tens of thousands of Western North Carolinians received the week before Christmas titled “Crime is out of control in Asheville” was a misleading, hyper-partisan campaign mailer, attacking Asheville and disparaging its mayor and city council, most of whom are Democrats,” said Leslie Carey, Chair of the Henderson County Democratic Party.
The complaint, which was filed with the House of Representatives Communications Standards Commission, under their Rules and Procedures, alleges that Edwards has a long and well-known history of attacking Democratic elected officials in Asheville and Buncombe county, including the mayor, city councilors and Sheriff Quentin Miller. “If he wants to disparage Asheville and Buncombe County, that’s up to him. Just don’t use taxpayer money to do it,” Carey said. Mailers, such as the one at issue in this complaint, are mailed under the “franking privilege” that each Member of Congress enjoys. As long as the mailer concerns “official Congressional business” the postage is paid by taxpayers. But if the mailer violates well-established rules, the Representative is subject to sanctions.
Publicly available information on the House of Representatives website reveals that in 2023 Edwards sent out more mass mailings, newsletters, alerts, social media posts, and robo-calls, than any other member of the North Carolina delegation. In fact, he was No. 3 in the entire Congress, at 250, behind Bob Good (R-VA) and Zachary Nunn (R-IA).
“Edwards often labels his constituents who receive much needed government assistance as socialists, but he was quick to accept more than $1 million in COVID relief money to fund his restaurants in 2020. Now he thinks he has found a way to saddle the taxpayer with the cost of his attack mailers,” said Carey. “He needs to be held accountable.”
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