Rep. Cawthorn Concedes Primary Election To Edwards

NORTH CAROLINA — Embattled Rep. Madison Cawthorn has conceded the Republican primary for his U.S. House seat in North Carolina's 11th Congressional District to state Sen. Chuck Edwards, according to the Associated Press.

A spokesperson for Cawthorn told reporters Tuesday night he called Edwards to concede the race.

Edwards has more than 33 percent of the vote, a lead of nearly 2 percentage points over Cawthorn with 270 of 275 precincts reporting late Tuesday.

Cawthorn's loss comes as quickly as his rise to Congress and is largely a result of a series of missteps in his first term in office.

Cawthorn, 26, pulled an upset over Lynda Bennett in the 2020 Republican primary runoff for the 11th District and went on to win the general election over Democrat Moe Davis, becoming one of the youngest members of the U.S. House in history.

He received former President Donald Trump's endorsement but a turburlent first year in office had other Republicans endorsing his opponents.

He initially announced he was running for office in the 13th District but moved his candidacy back to the 11th in February after the redistricting lines were redrawn because the first draft was struck down in the judiciary.

Edwards had been campaigning for months before Cawthorn joined the race and received the endorsement of Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis.

"It's clear that his interest was to move somewhere else and seek a political career someplace else after we, including myself in this district, worked to get him elected," Edwards said in an interview. "He turned his back on us."

Cawthorn angered Republicans when he said on a podcast he had been invited to an orgy in Washington and had seen people who were leading efforts in drug legislation doing cocaine.

Cawthorn also was a speaker at the "Stop the Steal" rally ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

The Associated Press has called the Democratic primary in favor of Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, who has a huge lead with nearly 60 percent of the vote.

Beach-Ferrara is an LGBTQ activist and minister who serves as the Buncombe County commissioner and executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality in Asheville. The group helped pushed for same-sex marriage in the state a decade ago. She'll face either Edwards in a heavily Republican district.

Beach-Ferrara was challenged by Jay Carey, Katie Dean, Marco Gutierrez, Bo Hess and Bynum Lunsford.

Here are the latest election results as of 10:18 p.m. A race will move to a runoff if no candidate receives 30 percent of the vote.

Republican Primary Results

• Chuck Edwards 29,078 (33.56%)
• Madison Cawthorn 27,421 (31.64%)
• Matthew Burril 8,180 (9.44%)
• Bruce O'Connell 5,967 (6.89%)
• Rod Honeycutt 5,689 (6.57%)
• Michele V. Woodhouse 4,587 (5.29%)
• Wendy Marie-Limbaugh Nevarez 4,449 (5.13%)
• Kristie Sluder 1,282 (1.48%)

Democratic Primary Results

• Jasmine Beach-Ferrara 32,210 (59.67%)
• Katie Dean 13,861 (25.68%)
• Jay Carey 3,814 (7.07%)
• Bo Hess 2,067 (3.83%)
• Marco Gutierrez 1,027 (1.90%)
• Bynum M. Lunsford 998 (1.85%)

The Associated Press contributed to this report.