Moments after he was elected as the country’s youngest member of Congress, controversial Republican Madison Cawthorn, who has said he wants to unify people, stoked division in his western North Carolina district.
In what was anticipated to be a close race for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, stretching across all or part of 17 western North Carolina counties and including Asheville, the 25-year-old Cawthorn commanded a wide margin of victory. He led his Democratic opponent, retired Air Force colonel Morris “Moe” Davis, 55% to 42%, according to unofficial results with all precincts reporting.
“Cry more, lib,” Cawthorn tweeted in his first post as a Congressman-elect.
For Ashley Junkins, the 11th District Chairwoman for the Young Democrats of North Carolina, Cawthorn’s social media post Tuesday played up the very political rifts he says he abhors.
“Instead of really working for everybody, that statement really gives the impression that he’s not trying to represent the liberal people in this district,” said Junkins, a 28-year-old who lives in Marion, in McDowell County.
The tweet seemed to directly contradict Cawthorn’s call for a new generation of Republican leadership that can appeal to more people.
“When I look at Western North Carolina, I don’t see a purple district. I see red, white and blue,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “Rather than tearing each other down, we need to lift each other up.”
Cawthorn’s rise to prominence has already been mired in scandal, as he’s faced accusations of ties to white supremacy, sexual misconduct, racism and lying about his record. Now, he’ll have to represent an increasingly fractured district that includes the left-leaning Asheville and red counties that both he and President Donald Trump carried with sizable margins.
“He needs to represent arguably the most liberal city in the state of North Carolina, and an extremely conservative, rural district at the same time,” said Chris Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University. “That’s difficult for any member of Congress.”
Still, Jessica Marinaccio, a 31-year-old board member of the Asheville Young Republicans, said she doesn’t believe the tweet is indicative of how articulate Cawthorn is. She said she’s been impressed by his use of social media to boost his campaign, particularly amid COVID-19.
“For them to have built such a strong social media presence, and sort of bridging the gap in those ways to be able to still reach out to different constituents ... speaks to his generational advantage,” she said.
Cawthorn canceled an interview with the Observer without providing an explanation, and his campaign did not make him available prior to press time.
Representing young people
The Hendersonville native, who turned 25 in August, will be the youngest member of Congress elected in modern history. The Constitution requires members of the U.S. House of Representatives be at least 25 years old.
The current youngest member is 31-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, who is also the youngest woman ever elected to the House.
Cawthorn won a surprise victory in the GOP primary runoff in June, beating the candidate endorsed by Trump and by Mark Meadows, who formerly held the seat before resigning to become Trump’s chief of staff.
Cawthorn was further propelled to stardom when, during a prime speaking slot at the Republican National Convention, he stood up from his wheelchair with the aid of a walker. Cawthorn was in a car accident when he was 18 that left him partially paralyzed.
He has touted his youth as a way to bring more young voters into the Republican Party.
“The days of AOC and the far left misleading the next generation of Americans are numbered,” he said in his statement Tuesday.
Brian Penland, 21, co-vice chairman of the Macon County GOP College team, said many of his group’s members were inspired to join because of Cawthorn’s candidacy.
“He’s just strongly representing the youth,” he said. “I know he will really go to Washington and fight for our rights in the 11th District.”
A number of women have accused Cawthorn of making unwanted sexual advances, including in a letter circulating online authored by alumni at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia, where he briefly attended before dropping out. Cawthorn subsequently released a statement on his Facebook page, which listed the names of six people, that said he had the support of a “significant” number of former students who knew him well.
He has also faced allegations of ties to white supremacy, including an uproar over a social media post he made from Eagle’s Nest, Adolf Hitler’s former mountain retreat.
He has denied suggestions of any links to white supremacy and said he condemns racism.
And last month, he received backlash over a racist post on a website he created, which attacked an Asheville-based investigative journalist for leaving his academia job to “work for non-white males, like Cory Booker, who aims to ruin white males running for office.” Cawthorn described it as a “syntax error” and has since updated the website.
Kelly Brown, a 30-year-old resident of the Jackson County seat of Sylva, said Cawthorn stands for the hateful rhetoric that has increased because of Trump, and will represent only white people in the district. Brown is involved with local nonprofits and has advocated for the removal of a Confederate monument in the town.
“I have a three year old,” he said. “I’m sad that she’s going to have to learn that he was the example of the youngest person going to Congress. ... Because he’s not an example of how young people are. He does not represent me.”
What comes next?
Cawthorn was favored to win from the outset, but political forecasters started to predict a closer race as the controversies made national news.
Cooper said the reports didn’t have as much of an impact on the contest as he was expecting.
“There’s a couple explanations — I think the most likely is in 2020, it’s just about partisanship,” he said. “And that voters will overlook almost anything if you are a member of the right party.”
Davis, who described himself as a centrist, was a vocal opponent of the president’s, which hurt his chances, Cooper said. And he was running in a district that voted 57% for Trump in 2016, even under newly-redrawn boundaries that made it more competitive for Democrats this year.
The only county Davis won was Buncombe, home to Asheville.
In an interview with Fox & Friends Wednesday, Cawthorn said his priorities are health care reform, including deregulating the health care market, as well as “healing” partisan divisions.
“I also believe there’s a cultural battle to fight as well,” he said. “Whereas, I know it’s been said often, but let’s just come together as Americans, rather than as Republicans or as Democrats.”
Cooper said the allegations against Cawthorn are likely to follow him into Congress.
Giovanna Lastra, one of the Patrick Henry alumni who authored the letter, helped organize a PAC to oppose Cawthorn’s candidacy. She said the group of former students plans to continue its efforts now that he’s in Congress, because he’s entering a position of power.
“Whatever Madison says, we plan to monitor his behavior, monitor his actions, and hold him accountable,” she said.