North Carolina Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a 26-year-old freshman with a knack for grabbing headlines, on Tuesday became the first incumbent backed by former President Donald Trump to lose a primary this year.
State Sen. Chuck Edwards, who launched his campaign when had Cawthorn been running in another district and had the support from some Washington lobbyists and Sen. Thom Tillis, led the voting in the GOP primary in the western North Carolina mountains district. With an estimated 99 percent of the vote counted when the AP called the race at 11:09 p.m., Edwards had 33.4 percent to Cawthorn’s 31.9 percent; six other candidates shared the rest.
In a tweet, Cawthorn congratulated Edwards and urged Republicans “to rally behind the Republican ticket to defeat the Democrats’ nominee this November.”
