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FIRST ON FOX: Former North Carolina Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn announced he will be running for Florida’s 19th congressional seat on Wednesday during a phone call with Fox News Digital.
Cawthorn pointed to the recent assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as a core reason behind him returning to the political scene, though the 30-year-old former congressman said he had been “juggling” the idea of running for congress since Florida’s 19th District Representative Byron Donalds announced he would be vacating the seat to run for governor.
“After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, I knew that there was really no option. I’ve decided to run for Congress again,” Cawthorn told Fox News Digital. “I want to make sure [the people of Florida] have amazing representation in Washington, D.C., because I know exactly what happens in the swamp.”
Former congressman Madison Cawthorn looks to make a political comeback. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
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“There’s so many people that take advantage of freshman [members],” Cawtorn continued. “And I think that I’m the right man for the job.”
Cawthorn also told Fox his experience with hurricane relief in the district, which includes Naples, Cape Coral, Ft. Myers and Marco Island, as well as seeing the community come together also inspired his decision to run.
Madison Cawthorn was the youngest congressman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives since 1964, and was defeated by Rep. Chuck Edwards in the Republican primary for North Carolina’s 11th congressional district after serving one term from 2021 to 2023.
Cawthorn was embattled with various controversies at the end of his term, including pleading guilty to possessing a dangerous weapon at a Charlotte airport in April 2022, and in May 2022, a scandalous video of Cawthorn showed him “thrusting” at another individual. Cawthorn…
