Former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who lost a bid for a second term in a 2022 Republican primary, is seeking a comeback to Congress, this time from Florida.
Cawthorn announced Wednesday that he is running for Florida’s open 19th District, which includes Fort Myers and Naples and where GOP Rep. Byron Donalds is running for governor.
“Florida is the heart of the MAGA movement leading America, and leading the world toward freedom, growth and opportunity,” he said in a video announcing his campaign. “I know what it means to be underestimated, and I know what it means to fight back.”
Cawthorn was the youngest member of Congress during his lone term, winning election to North Carolina’s 11th District in 2020 at 25. He secured the GOP nomination by defeating a candidate backed by President Donald Trump. He then had a prime-time speaking slot at the 2020 Republican National Convention, where he rose from the wheelchair he’s used since a car accident left him nearly paralyzed, and leaned on a walker.
In Congress, he quickly developed a reputation as a strong Trump ally, but his personal conduct drew a constant stream of negative headlines.
The Charlotte Police cited him for seeking to bring a gun on a plane, and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol stopped him for driving with a revoked license. He angered House GOP leaders when he alleged on a podcast that fellow lawmakers had used cocaine and invited him to participate in orgies.
When North Carolina’s congressional map was redrawn before the 2022 election, Cawthorn initially sought to run from a new district. After another change to the map, Cawthorn ended up running again for the 11th District in the state’s western region, but he faced several primary challengers.
Despite having Trump’s support in his 2022 race, Cawthorn lost the primary to Republican state Sen. Chuck Edwards by 1.5 points.
The controversies did not let up for Cawthorn after his primary loss. Later in 2022, the House Ethics Committee found that he’d violated chamber conflict of interest rules by promoting a cryptocurrency in which he had a financial interest.
More recently, he was arrested last month in Florida for failing to appear in court after he was cited for driving without a valid license in August, according to Gulf Coast News.
Cawthorn joins a growing Republican primary in the 19th District that already includes businessman Jim Schwartzel; Marine veteran Mike Pedersen; and former Illinois state Sen. Jim Oberweis, who’s lost several past campaigns for Congress from his home state. The GOP nominee will be heavily favored in the deep-red seat, which Trump carried by nearly 30 points last fall, according to calculations by The Downballot.
And Cawthorn may not be the only former House member in the 19th District race. Former New York Rep. Chris Collins, who pleaded guilty to insider trading charges in 2019 and was later pardoned by Trump after serving just over two months in federal prison, has also reportedly been planning to seek the Republican nomination for the seat.
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