Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C) announced on Thursday that he is endorsing Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s primary opponent as the freshman lawmaker faces criticism from his own party over recent comments.
Tillis endorsed state Sen. Chuck Edwards (R), saying in a statement that Edwards is “the best choice,” to represent the people of North Carolina’s 11th congressional district, according to The Hill.
“The 11th Congressional District deserves a congressman who is fully dedicated to serving their constituents. Unfortunately, Madison Cawthorn has fallen well short of the most basic standards Western North Carolina expects from their representatives, and voters now have several well-qualified candidates to choose from who would be a significant improvement,” Tillis wrote.
Edwards will “put his constituents first” and “never turn his back on Western North Carolina or abandon his constituents for the sake of political expediency,” Tillis said, calling him “a hardworking conservative leader.”
Cawthorn is facing criticism in his own party for saying colleagues in Washington D.C. invited him to orgies and done cocaine in front of him.
The comment led to a meeting with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as some lawmakers in the GOP conference expressed frustration with Cawthorn over the comments portraying them as sexual deviants and drug users.
A survey done earlier this month among 300 likely Republican primary voters found that Cawthorn leads Edward 52 percent to 20 percent, with 11 percent of the vote going to one of the other six GOP candidates in the race. Seventeen percent of those polled said they remain undecided.
