ABOUT MADISON CAWTHORN’S DEFEAT

On the eve of Tuesday’s primary, former President Donald Trump asked voters to give U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn a “second chance.”

“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,” Trump said Monday on Truth Social, the social media platform he founded last year.

But that second chance never came.

State Sen. Chuck Edwards sneaked past Cawthorn in the Republican primary for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District — a district that has, in the past four years, elected both Cawthorn and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Edwards beat Cawthorn by a little more than 1,000 votes, according to unofficial results.

“This is simply incredible,” Edwards said in a statement Tuesday night. “Against all odds, we fought hard to win this election and provide clear conservative leadership for the mountains.”

As it turns out, a Trump endorsement can only go so far when the rest of your party is willing to leave you behind. Cawthorn’s loss comes after months of scandal that ultimately led top North Carolina Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, state Senate leader Phil Berger and N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore, to openly back Edwards …

Voters in western North Carolina can rest assured that the next person they send to Congress will almost certainly be better (and less embarrassing) than Cawthorn. But the biggest takeaway from Cawthorn’s loss should be this: Trump and his parade of politicians are beatable, so long as Republican leaders have the courage and conviction to stand up to them.