Madison Cawthorn, a 24-year-old real estate investment CEO, won a Republican primary runoff election Tuesday in western North Carolina in the race to fill the congressional seat of former Rep. Mark Meadows, who stepped down in March to become President Trump’s chief of staff.
And in winning the runoff contest, Cawthorn upset Lynda Bennett, who was endorsed earlier this month by the president.
Cawthorn’s win – which was called by the AP less than two hours after the polls closed — marks a rare victory over a candidate backed by Trump.
NEW: Real estate investment executive Madison Cawthorn, 24, has overtaken Lynda Bennett to win North Carolina's 11th congressional district's Republican primary.https://t.co/3CU0sP7hpi
— Axios (@axios) June 24, 2020
This is something: @CawthornforNC, who is 24, just defeated a Republican candidate backed by President Trump and chief of staff Mark Meadows for the deep-red House seat vacated by Meadows. He'll turn 25, the minimum age to serve in the House, in August. https://t.co/y2sgqtTA8Y
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) June 24, 2020