Not even a felony warrant could stop the blue wave that crashed across North Carolina on Tuesday.
One week after defeating Republican Rep. Tim Moore in the race for North Carolina's 14th Congressional District, Democrat Lakesha Womack will appear in court to face accusations that she never returned a rental car seven years ago. Womack defeated Moore 51% to 49% in the district which covers the Charlotte suburbs and portions of western North Carolina. Moore previously won the seat in 2024 by over 16 percentage points.
Womack will appear in court on November 10 at Mecklenburg County Courthouse for an incident back in 2019. At the time, a person reported her to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department for renting a vehicle from Budget Car Rental on October 7, 2019, and not returning the vehicle by the agreed upon date on October 23, 2019.
"Attempts to locate the suspect have been unsuccessful," the officer who took the report noted.
The case was opened January 14, 2020, and the first warrant was reported unserved on February 13, 2020. No further action appeared to be taken in the case until a warrant was served during a Womack campaign event on October 10. It's unclear when she finally returned the car.
The charge, failure to return a hired motor vehicle with a value over $4,000, could be punished with up to 39 months in prison.
Once the issue became public during the campaign, Womack admitted to returning the car late, but said she was homeless at the time and was unaware of the warrant because she had "nowhere to receive mail." In another statement, she accused Moore's campaign of "sensationalism" for drawing attention to her legal problems. She also alluded to past difficult times in her life and a "serious medical emergency that required hospitalization in intensive care."
"Accountability, however, must be grounded in facts, fairness, and due process rather than speculation or sensationalism," Womack said. "As an attorney himself, Congressman Moore knows full well that any ongoing legal matter should be addressed through the appropriate legal process."
Moore previously said that the charge should be disqualifying.
"It's just striking to me that someone running for Congress had an unresolved felony charge," he told the Daily Signal before the election. "If she can't manage her own personal affairs any better than that, how does she think she can make decisions for the good of this district?"
The Daily Wire reached out to Womack for comment on the case.
Democrats dominated throughout North Carolina on Election Day with former Governor Roy Cooper easily defeating former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley to replace outgoing Senator Thom Tillis. Democrats also flipped at least five Congressional seats and took control of the state House.
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