WASHINGTON — Voters in North Carolina’s 9th District will take to the polls Tuesday to choose a new congressman.

The seat has been empty since January, when Rep. Robert Pittenger left office with the start of the new Congress.

Democrat Dan McCready is facing off against Republican Dan Bishop in the longtime Republican district.

The race is one of two special congressional elections in North Carolina. Voters in the 3rd District will also head to the polls, selecting a replacement for the late Rep. Walter Jones.

Read more about that story here.

The special election was called after an absentee ballot fraud investigation in the 9th District. As a result, the state's election board didn't certify the results.

The 9th District stretches from Charlotte in the west to Bladen County and Fayetteville in the east, running along the border with South Carolina. It is a diverse county, featuring a combination of rural and urban areas.

Recent internal polling from both sides shows the race to be neck-and-neck.

Meanwhile, Charlotte voters will make choices in the mayoral and city council primary.

Election Day is Tuesday. Find your local polling location here.

Who are the candidates?

Dan McCready is the Democrat in this race. He has been campaigning for essentially two years — he was also the Democratic candidate in last fall’s race. Those results were ultimately tossed out amid the absentee ballot fraud investigation.

McCready is a Marine Corps veteran and father of four. He started a solar energy business in the Charlotte area.

McCready has worked to frame himself as a moderate in this race, focusing on health care and education issues, both on the campaign trail and in ads.

Dan Bishop is the Republican in the race. Bishop was selected as the GOP nominee during the May primary.

He has served as a member of the North Carolina state legislature since 2015 — first in the House, and currently in the Senate. He is an attorney and a father of one. He was a sponsor of the so-called “bathroom bill” that became the subject of national attention.

Bishop is running as an ally of President Donald Trump and has gone after Democrats in Congress in his campaign ads, focusing in part on the so-called “squad” of progressive freshmen lawmakers. 

Libertarian Jeff Scott and Green Party candidate Allen Smith are also on the ballot.

How did we get here?

The North Carolina State Board of Elections didn't certify last fall’s election results amid an absentee ballot fraud investigation. 

In February, the State Board voted unanimously to hold a new election. The decision followed a multi-day hearing that featured testimony from Mark Harris, the Republican candidate at the time, along with several others.

During the campaign, Harris hired a political operative named McCrae Dowless.

Dowless is accused of overseeing a scheme in which absentee ballots were illegally collected and filled in. He, along with members of his team, were subsequently indicted.

In last fall’s election, Harris had a 905 vote edge over McCready. But Harris ultimately chose not to run again when the new election was called.

What are voters saying?

Voters have offered a whole host of explanations when asked who they plan on supporting when they go to the polls.

Some see it as a referendum on what is going on in Washington.

“We need a change, especially with Trump in office. We need a change,” said Bessie Terry, an early voter in Richmond County.

“I’ve just been so disappointed by the way the Democrats are acting in Congress. I just don’t have confidence in them anymore,” said Peggy Sessoms, an unaffiliated voter from Lumberton who says she is backing Bishop.

Some voters who spoke with Spectrum News are focused on specific issues, from health care and prescription drug prices to abortion.

Still others are undecided. Polly Bostic in Union County says she may not make up her mind until she gets in the voting booth.

“I’m very undecided. They take pot shots at each other, which I think is terrible,” she said, when asked about the two candidates.

Bladen and Robeson counties were ground zero in that fraud investigation. Residents there expressed frustration about what happened.

“It’s the most dishonest thing that I could see happening. But unfortunately, I’ve seen it years and years and years,” said Charles Lennon, a Bladen County Republican.

What to watch for on Election Night

North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District is diverse, with urban pockets, including Charlotte and its suburbs, and also extensive rural areas. 

Internal polling from both sides shows the race to be close, meaning the results will in part come down to turnout — especially in the more populous counties of Mecklenburg and Union.

Union County is the traditional Republican stronghold in the district. Harris got 59 percent of the vote there last fall. He also carried Bladen County. 

Mecklenburg County favored McCready last fall with 54 percent of the vote. He also carried other counties in the district. Some of those counties, such as Robeson and Richmond, went for Trump in 2016 and McCready in 2018.