Mark Harris Says He Ran To Catch NCAA Kickoff, Not Avoiding Media

Republican Mark Harris apologized to the reporters for not talking to them after a meeting at the Charlotte Mecklenburg government building, North Carolina on Monday.

“Sorry I missed you guys tonight. I had to get to the kickoff of the National Championship game. We’ll have plenty to talk about in the days ahead,” he tweeted.

The incident took place when the reporters were waiting for Harris outside of a Mecklenburg County GOP meeting. Harris exited the building with a group of people almost 10 minutes after the meeting was over and directly headed to the emergency staircase.

Reporters managed to follow him despite being stopped by a man who claimed to be a county employee. The fire alarm went off as he exited the building. Harris then sprinted across the street to the First Baptist Church of Charlotte's parking lot, got into his car and drove away, CBS-affiliated television station WBTV reported.

Joe Bruno, a journalist with ABC-affiliated television station WSOC-TV, posted a photo of the fire exit and stated that another reporter got trapped inside it while trying to follow the Republican.

He also tweeted that Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center security officers confirmed Harris took the emergency fire exit in order to “avoid talking to the media.”

Several people took to Twitter to express their disappointment with Harris’ behavior.

“As the frmr longtime NC State Fire Marshal (& Insurance Commissioner) that I am, the behavior of Mark Harris using the emergency fire exit 2 escape the press is quite appalling & shd set off yet another alarm for # nc09 # ncpol watchers,” Wayne Goodwin, a North Carolina politician and current chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party tweeted.

“Nothing screams innocence more than desperately running away from journalists,” another Twitter user said. Some also went on to make fun of the incident.

Harris was elected from North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District to the House of Representatives. According to his official website, Harris ran for the seat as “he believes the people of the 9th District need and deserve a Congressman who will listen to them, take their concerns to Washington, and work hard for them every day.”

His apparent victory against Democrat Dan McCready in November’s election was clouded by allegations of election fraud. Several voters and election workers complained about irregularities in the election. This includes reports stating that McCrae Dowless, a subcontractor for Harris’ campaign consultants, collected and marked voters’ absentee ballots.

Reports state that House Democrats will launch investigations into the allegations which could also pave the way for a new election in the district, even if the court orders the board of elections to announce Harris as the winner.