25-year-old NC GOP candidate expected to speak Wednesday night at RNC

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Wednesday, August 26, 2020
NC man would be youngest member of Congress
Madison Cawthorn was on track on Tuesday night to defeat Lynda Bennett with nearly two-thirds of the vote.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Madison Cawthorn, a up-and-coming North Carolina Republican Congressional candidate with an underdog story, will make history tonight.

Cawthorn, who identifies as a millennial in a campaign video, is expected to speak in the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night. He's part of a lineup that includes Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence.

Cawthorn is paralyzed from the waist down from a car accident. Last year, Cawthorn defeated President Donald Trump's pick in the Republican primary in 2019. The 25-year-old is trying to replace former Rep. Mark Meadows in North Carolina's 11th congressional district.

If Cawthorn wins, he would be the youngest lawmaker in the modern history of Congress, according to The New York Times.

"I represent an emerging generation of Americans who are tomorrow's leaders," Cawthorn said in a campaign video. "Most of whom think that Republicans don't care about the disenfranchised, the hurting and those less fortunate. But nothing could be farther from the truth."

Cawthorne is also facing recent scrutiny from allegations of sexual misconduct, according to an Asheville Citizen Times report.