Former Rep. Madison Cawthorn Will Run Again for Congress

Former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) will run for Congress in 2026 in the district currently represented by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who is running for governor of Florida.

“I’m running for Congress to stand with President Trump, defend our conservative values, and fight to stop the radical left every single time,” Cawthorn said in a campaign announcement video. “I’ll fight to lower out-of-control insurance costs and stop crime in our streets, and deport illegals.”

His website emphasizes that his campaign themes are border security, the Second Amendment, and ending so-called woke ideology.

Cawthorn served one term in the House of Representatives during the 118th Congress, from 2021 to 2023, representing North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District. He lost the 2022 Republican primary to then-state Sen. Chuck Edwards, who now holds the seat.

Cawthorn is now seeking the Republican nomination in Florida’s 19th Congressional District, which includes Gulf Coast cities such as Cape Coral, Fort Myers, and Naples.

“When Hurricane Ian devastated Cape Coral, I stood shoulder to shoulder with my neighbors helping families, delivering supplies, and rebuilding together,” Cawthorn said in a statement to The Epoch Times, repeating a quotation from his campaign announcement video.

Florida’s 19th District, which Donalds has represented since 2021, has a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of R+14, making it heavily Republican. The winner of the Republican primary there is generally considered the presumptive winner of the general election.

Cawthorn is not the only former elected official running in the GOP primary.

Former Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), who served in Congress from 2013 to 2019, is also running. Collins resigned from Congress in 2019 after he pleaded guilty in federal court to felony insider trading and making false statements to a federal official. He was later pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2020.

Cawthorn’s political brand has revolved around his support for Trump.

“In Congress, President Trump will have no stronger advocate to uphold America first values, than Madison Cawthorn,” Cawthorn’s campaign website states. “America first values are Southwest Florida values, and that will continue to be Madison Cawthorn’s highest priority.

“Whether it’s failing to address the immigration crisis at the southern border, attacking our Second Amendment rights, sending billions of tax dollars overseas to countries that hate us, or dismantling the Christian values that helped build this country, the Democratic Party is not fighting for you anymore.”

In 2014, when he was 18, Cawthorn was partially paralyzed after being involved in a car accident as a passenger. He uses a wheelchair. During the 2020 election, he framed his candidacy as a story of overcoming adversity.

Edwards and Donalds did not respond to requests for comment.