Cawthorn considers switching NC districts, surprising GOP. He’d represent Mecklenburg

BY BRIAN MURPHY AND DANIELLE BATTAGLIA UPDATED NOVEMBER 10, 2021 11:59 PM

RALEIGH

Rep. Madison Cawthorn knocked off a Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump and Mark Meadows en route to his seat in Congress.

Now the young conservative could shake up the North Carolina congressional delegation once again.

In the political map approved by Republican state lawmakers last week, Cawthorn is the incumbent in the 14th Congressional District. But he told Republican leaders in his current Western North Carolina district that he is instead considering running in the 13th Congressional District — one that most political observers thought had been drawn for N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore.

“I think he’s leaning toward it, if it’s a feasible thing,” said Lee Emerson, chairman of the Polk County GOP, in a telephone interview Wednesday night.

The 13th district includes the western part of Mecklenburg County and all of Polk, Rutherford, McDowell, Burke, Gaston and Cleveland counties. Moore is from Cleveland County.

{snip}