Florida fails to provide a path back to Congress for NC’s Madison Cawthorn
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Former Rep. Madison Cawthorn, now a Florida man, couldn’t find a path back to Congress through the Sunshine State.
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Cawthorn lost the Republican primary Tuesday night for Florida’s 19th Congressional District that includes Fort Myers, Naples and Marco Island.
The former Hendersonville resident, 31, was one of 10 candidates in the race that included an underwear model convicted in the Jan. 6 insurrection and several out-of-state candidates who similarly hoped Florida would redeem their past campaign failures — including one endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Ultimately, the race was won by Jim Schwartzel, one of the rare Florida natives in the race, who owns and operates a top-rated conservative radio station in Florida.
For voters in North Carolina not even four years ago, it would have been hard to imagine that Trump would snub Cawthorn for an endorsement.
But Cawthorn lost his own reelection bid in May 2022 after a series of scandals plagued his political career. It is rare for an incumbent to lose his reeleection campaign. The University of Virginia’s Center for Politics tracks the number of incumbent primary losses and found that less than 4% of incumbents lost in 2022. In 2024, only 1% lost their primary.
Cawthorn grew up in southwestern North Carolina and grew to national prominence, at 24, in 2020, when he first ran for Congress. Both his age, and the tragedy of being partially paralyzed in a 2014 car wreck, gained Cawthorn attention.
And that attention grew when he spoke that summer at the Republican National Convention. There, as he recited a modified version of the Pledge of Allegiance, he stood up from his wheelchair when he got to “for which I stand.”
Many in the party saw him as a refreshing example of what a young Republican could bring to Washington.
But by his own description, he focused his office on communication over legislation. And his words made him enemies. He faced Sen. Thom Tillis’ ire after calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “a thug.” Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, co-chairs the Senate NATO Observer Group.
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Then one scandal after another plagued his reelection campaign, including allegations of past sexual misconduct, bringing weapons to an airport and a school building and having a suggestive video leaked involving Cawthorn and his cousin.
His constituents chose to replace Cawthorn in Congress with Rep. Chuck Edwards, a Republican from Flat Rock, now facing his own sexual harassment scandal involving young female staffers that upended his reelection bid for a third term.
But four years ago, when Edwards defeated Cawthorn in the Republican primary, Cawthorn packed up his congressional office, leaving much of his constituent work to his senators, and left the state.
He moved to Cape Coral, Florida, in August 2022 and resurfaced last year to run for Florida’s open congressional seat.
The seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for governor.
Donalds’ exit led Cawthorn to face off against nine other Republicans for the seat.
Among them was John Strand, the underwear model and actor from Beverly Hills, California. He spent a year in jail for his participation in the Jan. 6 attack, before Trump pardoned him upon his return to the White House.
Trump chose Catalina Lauf, a perennial candidate from Illinois, for his endorsement.
Others in the race include candidates who previously ran in Michigan and New York and a man from Texas.
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