Madison Cawthorn’s stunning victory over Trump-backed and Mark Meadows-backed opponent show you don’t need to run against AOC to win

Late last year, Woodstock native Catalina Lauf entered the IL-14 Republican primary race and was touted the “anti-AOC” who unapologetically supports President Trump, having worked at the Department of Commerce of the Trump Administration for 8 months. Lauf would have been the youngest woman elected to Congress at age 27 years, 8 months (in early January).

Additionally, Lauf’s informal running mate Lisa Song Sutton (R, NV-04), age 35, ran for Congress representing a new generation of voters coming off the sideline entering the political arena, and raising nearly $400K and with endorsements from Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R, TX-02) and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R, NY-21), she was expected to compete for the nomination in the June 9 primary.

Both Lauf and Sutton finished distant 3rd places in their respective races, losing to establishment men who were respectively 57 and 29 years their senior.

But on the same night when Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, NY-14) won her primary with 70% of the vote overcoming millions of dollars spent against her, in western North Carolina, Madison Cawthorn won a primary runoff in a safe Republican district by 2 to 1 margin over Lynda Bennett, close friend of the wife of White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who had the active involvement of President Trump in the race.

Last night, and recently at a June 13 Republican convention to nominate a Republican for the fall ballot for VA-05, President Trump’s perfect record in primary endorsements was smashed. Congressman Denver Riggleman (R, VA-05) lost his renomination bid when the delegates learned he officiated a gay marriage ceremony.

In NC, Cawthorn, who is paralyzed from the waist down due to an automobile accident in 2014, and Bennett were in the primary runoff as the result of the initial primary vote on March 3 not producing a winner with 30%+1 of the primary vote, which Bennett received 23% and Cawthorn 20%.

But what likely produced Cawthorn’s thumping of Trump/Meadows-backed Bennett was the timing Mark Meadows used to announce his retirement from Congress to become White House chief of staff.

Evidence like Bennett’s campaign website being assembled 3 months prior to Meadows’ leaving the seat convinced voters a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus was playing swamp-games for succession to the congressional seat he held.

And yesterday in the primary runoff, the voters had their say. A fact not lost on Cawthorn in a statement from Tuesday night:

“I don’t think this was a referendum on how much influence the president has. I think the people of western North Carolina are very discerning, and they just wanted to send someone who they thought would represent them best.”

Madison Cawthorn to POLITICO with emphasis added, 6/23/20
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But earlier today, Cawthorn profoundly pointed out his campaign was focused on local issues while:

“my opponent was focused on D.C. politics and just trying to focus on Washington.”

Madison Cawthorn to POLITICO on 6/24/20
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As to President Trump’s reaction to the runoff result, he called Mr. Cawthorn from Air Force One Tuesday night to congratulate him on his win. POLITICO says it was a good conversation.

Cawthorn faces Democrat Morris Davis in the general election in the fall, but for a safe Republican district, the Democrat opposition is expected to be negligible at best.

Assuming a Cawthorn win in November, when he takes the oath of office into the 117th Congress in January, for the first time, a member of Congress born in the mid 1990s will be a member of the House at 25 years, 4 months (he turns 25 in August).

External references:

• POLITICO 6/23/20: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/23/trump-meadows-north-carolina-primary-cawthorn-bennett-337223
• POLITICO 6/24/20: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/24/trump-congratulates-madison-cawthorn-337922