I don’t know if I would go that far. Yes, Trump’s support has limitations but candidate quality matters, Cawthorn ran an amazing campaign from what I’ve seen, and he may certainly have a bright statewide future ahead of him. Bennett on the other hand had the stigma of the whole “Meadows drops out at the last minute” and that she is good friends with his wife vibe. Also, from what I’ve read Bennett ran a terrible campaign. A loss for Trump? Not really, Cawthorn ran as a staunch supporter of Trump.

I almost went for Cawthorn despite the endorsement for Bennett. I see him as an extraordinary case versus the Trump endorsement. He has a compelling life story, from a policy perspective was inline with the district, and Bennett may have been viewed as too much of insider. There was no risk for Republican voters in going with another option, in fact his life story probably was seen as a net positive. Fighting back from a tragic accident, yet still represents the values of this district. Pretty confident he will be a showcase Republican in Congress when he gets to DC. This is a great story for the Republican Party in November in an election that may not have many great stories to tell.

I have friends in the district and Cawthorn had a lot of negatives too though.

Would be interested to hear them, because I haven’t seen anything overly negative about him.

@southern Moderate2 - right on some, wrong on others. I was wrong on that one. What a disaster