Rep. Madison Cawthorn is trailing his top rival, state Senator Chuck Edwards by single digits in the political fight of his life as the scandal-plagued Republican battles to keep his seat in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional district.
More than three-quarters of the vote has been counted but the race remains too close to call.
Cawthorn whittled the local lawmaker’s lead down to single digits after falling behind Edwards by more than 10 points early in the race.
The 26-year-old Republican’s re-election bid has proven to be a test of Donald Trump‘s endorsement strength, as election watchers wait to see whether the ex-president’s support could push him over the line despite a litany of recent public relations crises.
Meanwhile in the state’s GOP Senate primary, Trump’s endorsement was enough to push relatively little-known lawmaker Rep. Ted Budd to victory as the Republican candidate to replace retiring Senator Richard Burr.
Budd was declared the winner by multiple outlets less than…
