A federal judge in North Carolina on Friday blocked a legal challenge by a group of voters and advocacy groups that sought to bar Rep. Madison Cawthorn from running for office over his role in the buildup to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol last year.
Chief District Court Judge Richard Myers, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said he could not allow the challenge to label the first-term Republican representative as an insurrectionist and deny his ability to run on the November ballot.
In a narrow ruling, Myers concluded an 1872 law passed by Congress repealed the 14th Amendment’s “disqualification clause” that challengers, including the State Board of Elections, sought to make its case. “The court finds Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits of the case. The court grants Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction,” Myers ruled on Friday, according to court records.
CAWTHORN SAYS BID TO KEEP HIM OFF BALLOT ‘VERY CLOSE’ TO SUCCEEDING
“We are at a moment in which interest in free and fair elections is at its peak,” Myers said, adding his responsibility as a federal judge is to defend “the soapbox … the ballot box … and the jury box … And when those fail, that’s when people proceed to the ammunition box.”
Cawthorn responded to the ruling on Friday, tweeting, “The left’s lawfare tactics have failed. On to re-election!”
Challengers alleged that by stoking anger at the Jan. 6 protest, Cawthorn triggered Section 13 of the 14th Amendment, which was put in place after the Civil War to prevent Confederates from running to perform crucial government duties. Cawthorn has denied engaging in an insurrection.
The State Board of Elections could appeal the judge’s decision, though legal counsel for the board has not made a final decision, and a board spokesman said it was reviewing Myers’s ruling, according to local NBC affiliate WRAL.
John Wallace, a lawyer for voters who challenged Cawthorn’s candidacy in the state, said he was “greatly disappointed” by the decision and added, “We will need to consider whether a next step is warranted.”
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Though Cawthorn currently represents North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, the lawmaker announced last year his intentions to run for the newly redrawn 13th.
The district that Cawthorn is running to represent next year is still in the process of being finalized. Last month, the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down Republican-drawn redistricting maps, citing “partisan gerrymandering.”
