House nominee visits Graham County
Robbinsville – Madison Cawthorn’s mission statement is simple.
“I will not forget my constituents,” Cawthorn said to a crowd of about 40 voters gathered outside the Graham County Sheriff’s Office on Friday.
Early voting begins today for the U.S. House of Representatives District 11 Republican runoff primary between Cawthorn of Henderson County and Lynda Bennett of Haywood County. Cawthorn spent the better part of last week campaigning across western North Carolina, letting constituents know why they should pick him over Bennett on Election Day, which was rescheduled to Tuesday, June 23.
“Right now, it’s very evident that Lynda Bennett is trying to hide from the people,” Cawthorn said. “She refuses to meet me in a debate. We’ve seen time and time again that if she gets away from her cue cards or a script, she deteriorates.
“At the end of the day, when America is faced with a crisis – think of COVID-19, or a war – there are no cue cards to read off of. You have to be willing to defend your ideas, and be able to represent your people and vote for what they want. I’m willing to defend my ideologies and I’ll back them any day.
“My talking points are not just talking points; there’s things that I’ve had years to study that I’ll go into, defend and articulate why they’re the right ideologies. I feel like my opponent is incapable of doing that.”
Over the course of 45 minutes Friday, Cawthorn covered topics such as term limits on Congress, health-care reform and broadband access.
He also fielded questions.
“We need a voice,” one audience member said. “That’s what a politician is supposed to be.”
“I agree. We’re supposed to be a representative,” Cawthorn replied.
A bystander brought the lack of industry in western North Carolina to the forefront, pointing out that most Graham residents have to work out of county, which cuts down on their time spent at home. Cawthorn responded by announcing his intention to campaign for more Payment In Lieu of Taxes for local governments, as well as applying a portion of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act – passed in 2017 – called Opportunity Zones.
“You give people a stable job and that creates a more stable economy, which makes for a more stable home life for Americans,” Cawthorn said. “Graham has the highest unemployment rate in the state. What I would love to see is a reduction of the capital gains taxes – which gives these people with a lot of money, that are looking for somewhere to invest – to come into these towns and invest.
“It’s putting power to the people. It will give jobs to people who spend money in that community and, because of that, there will be more competition in that market, which will drive wages up and create more demand for jobs.”
Several people discussed their issues with standardized testing with Cawthorn.
He was prepared with a ready-made analogy.
“If you ask a fish and a monkey to climb a tree, the fish obviously can’t do it. Doesn’t mean the fish is useless, because it is incredible in water,” Cawthorn said. “These standardized tests make people feel like they have to move through life based off a metric that they weren’t designed for.
“I believe we were given skills and natural abilities when we were created. I think standardized testing is doing a disservice to our children.”
Cawthorn also spoke on his stance concerning religious freedom when the topic was broached by another voter.
“The Democrats have what I’ve put into an acronym: EGO, or Edging God Out,” Cawthorn said. “It seems like every cycle, they want to make just one little step further away from God. We’ve taken God out of our schools and much of our society.
“I really, truly believe this country was founded on religious freedoms. That’s the reason the pilgrims came over here. Our Founding Fathers set us up with a great system for religious freedom, and I think we’re seeing a great deterioration of that in our country. I’m a very strong Christian, but I stand for religious freedom across the board.”
Round Two
The March 3 Republican primary race saw Bennett receive 20,606 votes (22.72 percent), while Cawthorn finished with 18,481 votes (20.38 percent).
However, since Bennett did not reach the 30 percent requirement to avoid a runoff, Cawthorn requested a runoff.
As a result, voters can determine who will advance to face Democrat Moe Davis, Green Party candidate Tamara Zwinak and Libertarian Tracey DeBruhl in the general election Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Bennett finished third in Graham County during the March 3 election – picking up 254 votes, or 17.10 percent – while Cawthorn was fifth, with 86 votes (5.79 percent).
The post was previously held by U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who vacated the seat after his appointment as White House Chief of Staff by President Donald Trump in March.
Meadows announced in December 2019 that he would not seek re-election.