Date of birth: Aug. 1, 1995
Residence: Hendersonville, N.C.
Occupation: owner, CEO, real estate investment company
Education: attended Patrick Henry College
Family: fiancée, Cristina Bayardelle
At age 25, Rep.-elect Madison Cawthorn is poised to become the youngest member elected to Congress this year and has already earned name recognition nationally.
Cawthorn upset the GOP primary field for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District by defeating his Republican rival Lynda Bennett, a close family friend of White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who previously held the seat. President Trump and Meadows endorsed Bennett.
Cawthorn, who previously interned for Meadows, said that while he wasn’t holding a grudge against Meadows, he was “disappointed” by the move.
The North Carolina native, who was largely expected to win the general election in the deep-red district, has faced scrutiny for some of his past social media posts, as well as plaudits for his speech at the Republican National Convention, in which he addressed becoming partially paralyzed in a car crash at the age of 18.
“At 20, I thought about giving up. However, I knew I could still make a difference and my accident has given me new eyes to see and new ears to hear,” Cawthorn said. “God protected my mind and my ability to speak, so I say to people who feel forgotten, ignored and invisible, I see you. I hear you.”
Cawthorn just turned legal age to join Congress in August.
– Olivia Beavers