Conservative Madison Cawthorn, 24, has defeated 62-year-old Lynda Bennett, endorsed by the conservative beltway, in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District Republican primary race to replace Mark Meadows.
Bennett — who received endorsements from Trump, Meadows, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the House Freedom Fund, the Senate Conservative Fund, American Conservative Union, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Citizens United — is set to finish with less than 35 percent of the vote compared to Cawthorn’s 65 percent in the primary.
In 2016, Bennett was reported to have declared herself a “never Trump person,” identifying with the failed “Never Trump” movement of the Republican beltway that sought to stop Trump from defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Cawthorn was endorsed by 15 sheriffs and police chiefs in North Carolina, as well as the Catawba Valley Tea Party and the WNC Constitutional Patriots.
At just 24-years-old and an 8th-generation North Carolinian, Cawthorn ran on ending sanctuary city policies, defending 2nd Amendment rights, a fierce pro-life platform, and defending faith-based values against “coastal elites and leftists.”
Cawthorn, a homeschooled student, had been nominated by Meadows to the U.S. Naval Academy in 2014 when he was nearly killed in a car crash that left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair.
Cawthorn owns a small business real estate investment company, is a motivational speaker, and is currently engaged to Cristina Bayardelle.
The young conservative now faces Democrat Morris Davis in the solidly-red congressional district.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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