Cawthorn announces he’ll change districts for 2022, shaking up NC elections

U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn said Thursday he is changing congressional districts in a powerplay to keep establishment Republicans from being elected.

Cawthorn announced that instead of running in the new District 14 where he lives, he would run in District 13, which includes N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore’s home in Cleveland County.

“I have every confidence in the world that regardless of where I run, the 14th Congressional District will send a patriotic fighter to DC,” Cawthorn said in his Twitter video posted late Thursday. “But knowing the political realities of the 13th District, I’m afraid that another establishment, go-along-to-get-along Republican will prevail there.”

Many took to social media expressing interest that Cawthorn’s video taped announcement seemingly took shots directly at Moore, who many thought had District 13 drawn for him as an easy Congressional win.

Within a few hours of Cawthorn’s announcement, Moore announced he wouldn’t run and instead would seek re-election to the N.C. House.

“While much of the speculation about my potential Congressional candidacy has been driven by the media and political pundits, I have been humbled by the folks in our region who expressed their wishes for me to represent them in Washington,” Moore said in a statement to The News & Observer. “While I have given it consideration, right now I am focused on the issues at hand that impact all North Carolinians.”

Cawthorn said his decision did not come easily, as the first-term Republican walked away from the 14th Congressional District, which state lawmakers drew with him as the lone incumbent.

“We now have a brand new congressional district and as it stands, the new lines have split my constituents,” Cawthorn said in a video posted to Twitter. “My house is almost directly on the line of separation between the 13th and 14th congressional districts and now half the counties in the new district are counties I currently represent.”

Unlike state lawmakers, congressional candidates do not have to live in the district they are running in.

In Cawthorn’s social media post, he said he needed to make a choice about what allows him to have the greatest impact on North Carolina, and he chose to represent the 13th district.

Cawthorn had teased his change Wednesday evening in a video conference with GOP chairs, saying he would make his decision over the weekend. But he made the announcement Thursday.

Republican reaction

The congressional maps were approved by state lawmakers last week. The filing period for candidates to officially declare their intentions is in December.

The 13th District includes the western part of Mecklenburg County as well as all of Gaston, Cleveland, Burke, McDowell, Rutherford and Polk counties. The 14th District includes 14 counties in the far western part of the state and most of a 15th, Watauga.

Cawthorn’s current district — the 11th — contains all or parts of 17 counties in the west, including all of Polk and McDowell and part of Rutherford, three counties that are in the new 14th. Watauga is not in his current district.

As news of Cawthorn’s decision broke, lawmakers told The N&O that Moore had asked his fellow House Republicans for their support for another term as speaker.

Rep. Jason Saine, a Lincolnton Republican, confirmed to The N&O by text Thursday night that Moore was planning to run for re-election as House speaker. Moore asked Saine individually for support as speaker again, and “he continues to have my support,” Saine said.

Cawthorn asked his constituents in the 14th District not to feel as though he’s leaving them behind.

“It’s quite the opposite,” Cawthorn said. “It is a move to take more ground for constitutional conservatism.”

Cawthorn said he considered this a tactical move to make sure “North Carolina’s conservative fighting spirit” was strengthened. Cawthorn has not been shy about taking on members of his own party during his first term, including recent criticism of Republicans who voted for President Joe Biden’s infrastructure package. He said there was no place in the party for Republicans who aren’t “America First.”

But Charles Jeter, who formerly served as a Republican member of the state House, wrote on Twitter: “@RepCawthorn isn’t choosing to run in the 13 because he’s worried about the ‘GOP establishment.’ He’s running in 13 because it’s easier for him to win the general. This isn’t a noble effort. This is ambitious cowardice at its worst. He’s an embarrassment that we need to defeat.”

Cawthorn enters national spotlight

Cawthorn won a Republican primary runoff in 2020, defeating a candidate backed by President Donald Trump and then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who previously represented the district in Congress.

Soon after, Trump embraced Cawthorn and gave him a primetime speaking slot at the Republican National Convention. Cawthorn, who was partially paralyzed after a car accident, quickly gained a national reputation.

He spoke at the Jan. 6 rally before the Capitol riot and has infuriated Democrats with inflammatory statements. Recently Cawthorn predicted “bloodshed” if an election is stolen again, repeating a false claim made by Trump about the 2020 election.

His frequent posts on social media often cast himself as a patriot fighting for liberty and opponents as tyrannical socialists trying to destroy the county.

A group running the website FireMadison.com immediately posted a new site, chickencawthorn.com, which depicts the congressman in a chicken costume and says he’s flying the coop.

“He clearly realized he was going to be beat and is high tailing it out of his hometown,” said David Wheeler, the president of the political action committee behind the websites, in a statement. Wheeler said his group would not stand down. “We want him out of office. Our battle simply moves a little bit south and east to the 13th Congressional District. We have no intention of letting up.”

Katie Dean, a Democrat, announced earlier this month her plans to run in the 14th Congressional District. She said Thursday night she still plans to run in that district.

“Madison Cawthorn doesn’t represent what we stand for in western North Carolina,” Dean said. “That said, the heart and soul of our campaign has been to stand up for the kind of representation that western North Carolina deserves.”

Dean said Cawthorn’s announcement doesn’t charge that. “We’ve operated on the premise of, if you see something say, say something,” Dean said. She added that she doesn’t like the extremism that Cawthorn represents and will take on any candidate who tries to follow that lead.

She said that she will continue operating with energy and substance.

“I’m disappointed that we’re not going to remove an extremist from office, but you know we still have the unique opportunity to flip this seat blue,” Dean said.

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