PRO-TRUMP FIREBRAND CAWTHORN CONCEDES
Despite stroke, Pennsylvania lieutenant governor wins Dem Senate primary
RALEIGH, N.C. — First-term U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn conceded his Republican primary race Tuesday to state Sen. Chuck Edwards, after the pro-Donald Trump firebrand’s personal and political blunders translated into voter unhappiness.
Cawthorn called Edwards to concede the 11th Congressional District primary to Edwards, Cawthorn campaign spokesperson Luke Ball told The Associated Press.
The AP late Tuesday had not called the race, in which Edwards was leading Cawthorn and six other Republican candidates with nearly all votes counted. Cawthorn had vaulted to national prominence after winning the mountain-area seat in 2020 at age 25.
Edwards is fast-food franchise owner who with a victory would advance to the November election against Democrat Jasmine BeachFerrara, who won Tuesday’s sixcandidate Democratic primary.
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, who endorsed Edwards, said Cawthorn was an embarrassment to his constituents.
“Republicans chose Chuck Edwards tonight because he is the embodiment of mountain values who will fight for them every single day in Congress with honor and integrity,” Tillis said in a news release.
Cawthorn faced negative publicity for speeding and gun violations, as well as for calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “thug.” He also infuriated fellow Republicans in Congress when he alleged on a podcast that he had been invited to an orgy in Washington.
And his initial decision to run for reelection elsewhere — only to switch back to the 11th District — didn’t sit well with many locals.
Within days of taking office in early 2021, Cawthorn spoke at the
“Stop the Steal” rally questioning Joe Biden’s presidential election victory that preceded the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
Cawthorn soon became a leading spokesperson for Trump’s policies and conservatives in the culture wars. Trump endorsed him.
In Penn., ‘Big Lie’ promoter wins GOP gov race; Futterman wins Dem Senate nod
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Doug Mastriano has won the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania governor, overcoming an eleventhhour push by the state’s GOP political establishment to consolidate support around an alternative in the crowded primary.
Mastriano, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and has promoted his lies about the 2020 election, will face Democratic state Attorney General Josh Shapiro in the November general election. The incumbent, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, is term-limited.
Some state GOP leaders have warned that Mastriano is too extreme to defeat Shapiro in the presidential battleground state. Mastriano, a state senator and retired U.S. Army colonel, built a devoted online following by leading opposition to state-ordered shutdowns during the pandemic and taking a prominent role in the unsuccessful effort to overturn Trump’s 2020 reelection defeat.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Lt.
Gov. John Fetterman has won the state’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate just days after suffering a stroke.
The 52-year-old Fetterman defeated U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta on Tuesday to advance to November’s general election. He will face the winner of a hotly contested Republican primary that includes Dr. Mehmet Oz, ex-hedge fund CEO David McCormick and conservative activist Kathy Barnette.
Fetterman is a progressive who has vowed to be a reliable vote for organized labor and liberal causes in Washington. Democrats see the seat being vacated by retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey as among their best pickup opportunities in the country.