There’s been lots of speculation since very early in Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s tenure in Congress that he’d face a Republican challenger in the Primary Election, but now it appears there’s at least one person who’s willing to do it – Asheville Republican Wendy Nevarez.

Army veteran and 2020 state House candidate Josh Remillard, of Mills River, has officially entered the race for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.

Madison Cawthorn, rolling himself around the Longworth House Office Building, draws attention from around every corner and down every straightaway of the labyrinthine tunnels that underlie Washington D.C.’s Capitol Complex, greeting passersby with their first name. 

It was one of those fairy tales that actually came true. Madison Cawthorn, a 25-year-old political unknown, pounced upon an unexpected congressional vacancy last December, survived a Primary Election field of 12 candidates to claim a spot in the runoff where he defeated a runoff opponent that was hand-picked by incumbent Republican Rep. Mark Meadows and endorsed by President Donald Trump. Cawthorn then ultimately prevailed over a well-qualified former judge and retired U.S. Air Force colonel in the General Election.

Those who hadn’t learned through backchannels a day or two beforehand found out early on a cold mountain morning late last winter that Mark Meadows was out. 

The major party candidates seeking the NC11 congressional seat recently left vacant by former Rep. Mark Meadows spent much of the first two debates attacking each other and defending themselves against those attacks, but now that controversial tweets by one of them have resurfaced, there’s even more focus on how the current partisan discord is turning modern political discourse into a war of words that can never be won. 

Congressional candidates Moe Davis and Madison Cawthorn clashed last week in a pair of debates spanning two days and three hours, covering everything from health care and economics to gun rights and race relations. 

Updated 9/11/20, 12:30 p.m.

While N.C. Congressional District 11 candidates Moe Davis and Madison Cawthorn got into a heated debate inside during the “Best in the West” online events Sept. 4-5, the excitement overflowed outside of the venue as well. 

Even Hollywood screenwriters would be hard-pressed to craft a more quintessentially American story.

Republican Madison Cawthorn and Democrat Moe Davis, candidates for the North Carolina congressional seat left vacant by White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, have both agreed to appear at a two-day joint forum hosted by three of the district’s largest media outlets.