Madison Cawthorn scored a stunning political upset on Tuesday when CNN projected he would win the North Carolina Republican congressional primary to fill the seat vacated by President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
The 24-year-old political newcomer, a staunch conservative who supports Trump, handily defeated his opponent Lynda Bennett with 65.82% of the vote, compared to Bennett’s 34.18%. Cawthorn’s win was unexpected, with Bennett having the backing of Trump and Meadows and other high-profile endorsements from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan.
Cawthorn, who was partially paralyzed in a 2014 car accident, is an owner of a real estate investment company and a motivational speaker. If elected in November, Cawthorn would become the youngest member in Congress – a title currently held by New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive upstart who took office when she was 29. Cawthorn will turn 25 in August, making him eligible to serve in the House.
“He’s 24 years old, he’s dynamic, he was able to articulate the ability to reach out to younger voters. I’ve heard him referred to by some as ‘The AOC of the right.’ I don’t know if that’ll borne out to be true, but I do think that the generational piece is key here as well,” said Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University.
Cooper said Cawthorn’s victory in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District was not a repudiation of Trump, noting Cawthorn supports and is aligned with the President. He also said that ideologically, Cawthorn “is almost a carbon copy” of Bennett.
Cawthorn said Wednesday that Trump called him from Air Force One to congratulate him. He told MSNBC, “He was talking about how amazing of a victory it was – he defined it as ‘beautiful’ – you know, just talking about how impressive it was that we were able to overcome just so many large obstacles that we did.”
Cawthorn is fiscally conservative, anti-abortion, pro-gun and an immigration hardliner. He also supports term limits for members of Congress. Cawthorn says he is an eighth-generation resident of the 11th Congressional District, and that he was homeschooled in Hendersonville.
On his website, Cawthorn describes himself as a “constitutional conservative” who is “committed to defending the values of faith, family and the freedom that have made America great.” Cawthorn writes that he is running because “our faith, our freedoms and our values are under assault from coastal elites and leftists like (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”
Michael Bitzer, a professor of politics at Catawba College in North Carolina, said Cawthorn “recognizes the potential hole that the Republican Party is in based on generational dynamics.”
“The next generation of Republicans are making their presence known,” Bitzer said.
Bitzer said that because of the accident that put Cawthorn in a wheelchair, “He recognizes how much health care is a necessity in today’s environment.”
Cawthorn says on his website that he strongly opposes what he calls the Democrats’ plan for “socialized medicine,” and that he supports “expanding choice and competition in our health care system.”
While Meadows endorsed Cawthorn’s opponent for his old seat, Cawthorn says on his website that Meadows nominated him to the US Naval Academy in 2014. His plans changed after the car accident later that year. Cawthorn writes on his website he is running to continue Meadows’ “great work” in Congress.
Cooper, the Western Carolina University professor, said Cawthorn is “ideologically cut out of a Mark Meadows mold,” and said he shares a lot of stylistic similarities with the former congressman.
“Meadows is sort of ideologically extreme and personally affable, and I would use the same words to describe Madison Cawthorn,” Cooper said.
Meadows held the congressional seat from 2013 until this year; during part of that time, he served as chair of the House Freedom Caucus and was one of Trump’s closest allies in Congress. He announced in March he was resigning to serve as the President’s chief of staff. Meadows frustrated some local Republicans when he announced 30 hours before the December filing deadline that he would not be seeking reelection. He was accused of timing his retirement to help elect Bennett, who is his wife’s friend, and exclude a number of other potential candidates from the race.
In March, Bennett won the most votes, 22.72%, in a crowded Republican primary, but did not receive enough votes to avoid a runoff. Cawthorn won the second-highest amount of votes in that primary, with 20.38%.
Cawthorn now faces off against Democrat Moe Davis in the fall, for a seat that is classified as “Solid Republican” by the Cook Political Report.