Congressman Madison Cawthorn boasts a following among some self-styled MAGA Republicans, Save Jerseyans, but the North Carolina Republican appeared on track to lose renomination to his own seat in the House of Representatives on Tuesday evening.
With 94% of precincts reporting, the 26-year old Cawthorn trailed challenger Chuck Edwards (whose own endorsement list included Rick Perry) by almost 2-points (33.5% to 31.7%). He had been besieged by an endless parade of scandals in recent weeks ranging from torrid photographs to allegedly giving his cousin campaign funds.
As ever, there’s a New Jersey angle.
Cawthorn was set to be in New Jersey on May 26th for a fundraiser boosting NJ-07 primary hopeful Phil Rizzo. He previously endorsed Rizzo earlier in the contest; Tom Kean Jr. is the presumed frontrunner to take on Democrat Tom Malinowski.
