HENDERSONVILLE, N.C.—After a close race, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R) conceded to Rep. Chuck Edwards (R) in the GOP primary race for North Carolina’s 11th congressional district.
The concession announcement happened so suddenly that Cawthorn’s spokesman Luke Ball told reporters that Cawthorn wouldn’t concede even as Cawthorn called Edwards.
“While I was out here speaking with you all, Congressman Cawthorn called Rep. Edwards to concede the race,” Ball told members of the media at Cawthorn’s election watch party.
The announcement closed an extremely close race. For most of the night, Edwards led Cawthorn by only a few percentage points.
Despite the race’s closeness, both Cawthorn and several close friends of his said they were confident of his victory. Their certainty held steady until the last moment.
Frank Burkett, a family friend of Cawthorn’s, had two cigars in his pocket that he said he would smoke after the candidate’s victory. Despite his words, he also said he was waiting in suspense.
“We all love him,” he said of Cawthorn.
Burkett was part of Cawthorn’s 2020 campaign too, and a member of an informal group of Cawthorn’s friends called “The Four Horsemen.” Each member of the group had a metal medallion, with Cawthorn’s campaign logo on one side, and four stylized men on the front.
“We protect Madison,” said Jim Andrews, a former Marine and member of the group.
But it seems the “Four Horsemen” couldn’t protect him from the impact of a series of negative news stories that have broken over the past several weeks.
