After Cawthorn’s loss, candidate challenge ruling reversed

By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Days after U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn lost his primary race, a federal appeals court has overturned a judge’s decision that blocked an elections board from examining whether he should be disqualified. Tuesday’s ruling by a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came just a week after Cawthorn lost his Republican primary in North Carolina. The judges overturned the decision of a district judge who found a section of the 14th Amendment addressing insurrection and serving in Congress didn’t apply to Cawthorn. Voters who challenged Cawthorn’s candidacy cited his speech at a rally before the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot. Cawthorn denies participating in an insurrection.