FLAT ROCK, N.C. — Chuck Edwards was on his way to his election night watch party about 2 1/2 hours after polls closed when he received the call from Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who had already returned home from his own party and was ready to concede the race.
Cawthorn had spoken to supporters at his campaign headquarters in Hendersonville about a half-hour earlier, telling them that he believed the Republican primary race was “very close” and that he was confident that a small chunk of remaining ballots that hadn’t yet been reported by the state elections board would break for him by enough of a margin for him to catch up and take the lead.
But that never happened. The last couple of precincts reported their results soon after The Associated Press called the race for Edwards at 11:09 p.m. Eastern time. With all of the precincts in, the elections board’s unofficial results showed that the state senator had defeated Cawthorn by a little more than 1,300 votes, denying the embattled 26-year-old first-term congressman reelection.
