OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
After a long battle with many enemies coming for him, North Carolina GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn has been defeated in his bid to continue representing North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.
In the Republican primary election held on Tuesday, Cawthorn conceded defeat to North Carolina GOP state Sen. Chuck Edwards.
The 26-year-old first-term Congressman issued a statement on his campaign Twitter account shortly after he conceded to his opponent, and winner, Edwards.
“Congratulations to @ChuckEdwards4NC on securing the nomination tonight. It’s time for the NC-11 GOP to rally behind the Republican ticket to defeat the Democrats’ nominee this November,” he said.
Congratulations to @ChuckEdwards4NC on securing the nomination tonight.
It’s time for the NC-11 GOP to rally behind the Republican ticket to defeat the Democrats’ nominee this November.
— Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) May 18, 2022
Edwards said that Cawthorn was magnanimous in his call to concede and will be helping his campaign to achieve victory in November.
“I received a call from Congressman Cawthorn just a few of minutes ago, just as I expected he presented himself in a very classy and humble way and offered his support to our campaign in absolutely anyway that we can use him,” he said to his supporters.
The state is considered by the majority of those who follow politics to be a lock for Republicans, which is what made the primary so important.
Former President Donald Trump gave a late endorsement to Cawthorn on Monday.
“At 18 years of age, Madison Cawthorn, the now 26-year-old Congressman from the Great State of North Carolina, went through a life-changing event the likes of which, fortunately, few people will ever have to endure. In just seconds, he lost the use of the lower half of his body, a traumatic experience to say the least. When Madison was first elected to Congress, he did a great job. Recently, he made some foolish mistakes, which I don’t believe he’ll make again…let’s give Madison a second chance!” he said in a post on Truth Social.
The representative drew the ire of Republicans when he claimed that he was invited to “cocaine-fueled orgies.”
“In the interview, he claims he watched people do cocaine. Then when he comes in he tells me, he says he thinks he saw maybe a staffer in a parking garage from 100 yards away,” House Minority Leaders Kevin McCarthy said.
“It’s just frustrating. There’s no evidence behind his statements. And when I sit down with him … I told him you can’t make statements like that, as a member of Congress, that affects everybody else and the country as a whole,” he said.
“There’s a lot of different things that can happen. But I just told him he’s lost my trust. He’s going to have to earn it back,” he said. “I mean, he’s got a lot of members very upset.”
There were also videos of him that showed him behaving like a teenager when he was a teenager which was apparently a scandal to some.
“A new hit against me just dropped. Years ago, in this video, I was being crass with a friend, trying to be funny. We were acting foolish and joking. That’s it. I’m NOT backing down. I told you there would be a drip drip campaign. Blackmail won’t win. We will,” he said in a tweet.
And there was a ton of cash spent to fight Rep Cawthorn during the election, CNBC reported.
U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C. hasn’t spent any money on local television ads in his bid to win the GOP primary Tuesday, lagging behind many of his rivals and facing opposition within his own party to retain his congressional seat.
Cawthorn’s campaign has spent just over $147,000 on cable spots in the buildup to the Tuesday primary, according to data from Medium Buying. His campaign has placed about $13,000 into radio spots. Cawthorn has been snared in a slew of controversies in the buildup to the primary, including accusations of possible insider trading and calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “thug” as his country faces an invasion by Russia…
North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who has become a vocal critic of Cawthorn’s, has endorsed GOP state Sen. Chuck Edwards in the race for Cawthorn’s House seat. Edwards’ campaign has spent over $417,000 on campaign ads this cycle, including just over $316,000 on local TV ads, Medium Buying’s data shows. A super PAC aligned with Tillis that’s called Results for NC has spent over $1 million on television ads, with much of the airtime being dedicated to opposing Cawthorn and backing Edwards.
