'I'd rather have a grown-up in the room': Former NC GOP lawmaker rails against Madison Cawthorn
In an interview with North Carolina Public Radio WUNC, a former Republican lawmaker who served in the North Carolina General Assembly until 2016, said he would rather vote for a Democrat and see House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remain in place than vote for Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R).
According to the report from WUNC's Rusty Jacobs, the controversial Cawthorn has set off a firestorm among Republican Party members in his home state by running for re-election to Congress in a newly-created district designed to be the U.S. congressional home of State Rep. Tim Moore (R).
With multiple Republican Party officials expressing their displeasure with the freshman lawmaker who has aligned himself with equally controversial lawmakers Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, former state Rep. Charles Jeter (R) is leading the charge against Cawthorn.
"If Madison Cawthorn is the Republican on the ballot in the 13th (District), I'm not voting for Madison Cawthorn. I will vote for the Democrat," Jeter explained before adding, "People will say 'Well, you're going to put Pelosi in charge.' Well, you know what? I'd rather have a grown-up in the room."
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Jeter is not the only Republican voicing displeasure with Cawthorn.
Reacting to the House member's claim that Moore is a "go-along-to-get-along" Republican, one Republican Party leader said that comment landed flat with some voters in the state who are mad at Cawthorn for changing districts.
"Anybody that thinks he's a 'go-along-to-get-along' doesn't know Tim Moore," explained Cleveland County GOP chairman Dennis Bailey. "Carpet baggers don't tend to do well, in my mind. I don't think you can represent a district that you're not in and from."
Interviewed at the Cleveland County GOP Christmas Party, attendee Danny Lee Blanton seconded that view, telling WUNC's Jacobs, "If I'm going to vote for him, I want him to live here."
Meredith College Political Science Professor David McLennan questioned Cawthorn's move, explaining, "It's highly unusual for someone to move to a district outside of the one they're serving. I mean, you don't see incumbents running in different districts very often."
You can read more here.
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