Madison Cawthorn concedes in North Carolina GOP House primary

Madison Cawthorn.
(Image credit: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) has conceded defeat in the Republican primary for North Carolina's 11th Congressional District.

Cawthorn's representative, Luke Ball, told reporters that the freshman lawmaker called his opponent Chuck Edwards, a conservative state senator, to concede. With about 95 percent of precincts reporting, Edwards has 33.5 percent of the vote, followed by Cawthorn with 31.7 percent.

Cawthorn, 26, recently claimed that other Republican lawmakers openly used cocaine in front of him and invited him to orgies; showed up to an airport with a loaded handgun; was charged with a misdemeanor for driving with a revoked license; and called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "a thug." He had the support of former President Donald Trump, who said over the weekend that Cawthorn "made some foolish mistakes, which I don't believe he'll make again ... let's give Madison a second chance!"

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Edwards has declared victory, saying in a statement, "This is simply incredible. Against all odds, we fought hard to win this election and provide clear conservative leadership for the mountains."

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.