Madison Cawthorn tries to survive primary as slip-ups mount

RALEIGH, N.C. » U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s prominent role as the youngest pro-donald Trump agitator in Congress can rub people on the right and the left the wrong way in his North Carolina district.

That’s made the 26-yearold culture warrior a social media political celebrity and successful fundraiser. He’s near the top of the list of the former president’s most vocal allies on Capitol Hill.

But a series of unforced political and personal errors has brought both the force of big-name state Republicans and traditional enemies to bear against Cawthorn’s reelection bid. Some blunders have been headline-grabbing, like one that rankled GOP colleagues who believe he insinuated they were holding orgies and snorting cocaine. Others have been salacious, like recently released videos showing him in sexually suggestive poses.

But at home, the most consequential may have been when he decided to run for a different U.S. House seat, only to return to the mountainous 11th Congressional District that he now represents when redistricting litigation shifted the lines again.

The two top Republican leaders in the General Assembly have thrown their support to a Cawthorn rival — state Sen. Chuck Edwards, one of seven challengers in the May 17 primary. With Trump winning North Carolina twice and endorsing Cawthorn this year, his reelection in a Republican-leaning seat in a strong GOP year would have seemed likely.

Now, after just one term in office, the upstart congressman faces a tough primary challenge, with a difficult general election fight if he survives.