Madison Cawthorn just set a record

The youngest man in Congress lost his bid to be renominated by the Republican Party following a string of scandals.

North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn lost to state Sen. Chuck Edwards.

Cawthorn's campaign was hit with a "series of scandals," the Charlotte Observernoted.

"It began when he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “a thug” and the Ukrainian government “evil.” It escalated when he went on a podcast and said his congressional colleagues participated in orgies and did key bumps of cocaine," the newspaper reported. "From there he was charged with driving with a revoked license, was caught at an airport for the second time with a gun, accused of insider trading, while photos of him draped in lingerie on a cruise ship and a video of him naked in bed with another person leaked."

MSNBC reports Cawthorn called Edwards to concede.

Cawthorn's loss was also a loss for Donald Trump, a fact noted by Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL).

"Donald Trump endorsed Cawthorn. Cawthorn lost. Ouch," he posted to Twitter.

"Even though Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R) was defeated tonight, two of his very controversial endorsees - Sandy Smith (R) in #NC01 and Bo Hines (R) in #NC13 - are narrowly on pace to win GOP primaries in competitive districts. That could be good news for Dems," noted Dave Wasserman of the Cook Politico Report.

Bestselling author Don Winslow explained where he thinks Cawthorn went wrong.

"I warned you: Never, ever, EVER talk about Republican members of Congress and their drug fueled orgies. You can attack America and you can lie, cheat, steal, and assault people - but never talk about those drug fueled orgies," he wrote. "They will come after you!"

Jezebel editor-in-chief Laura Bassett also thinks the discussion of the orgies was decisive.

"Madison Cawthorn lost his House seat tonight after a scorched-earth campaign by his Republican colleagues to get him out— a warning shot to any member who wants to speak out about cocaine and orgies," she wrote.

Politico's San Stein wondered how much damage Cawthorn will inflict on the way out.

"I understand that GOP leadership wants him gone, but a lame duck Cawthorn with 7 months left to serve is gonna be a hold-your-breath ride for them too," he wrote.

"At 26, I’m pretty sure that Madison Cawthorn is the youngest member of Congress to lose a primary," wrote Dave Weigel of The Washington Post.

In 2020, Madison Cawthorn became the youngest Republican elected to Congress in American history. In 2022, he became the youngest Republican to lose re-election to Congress in American history," noted reporter Ben Jacobs.

Cawthorn had predicted victory.