Cawthorn sues over effort to disqualify him from running for reelection
By Tal Axelrod - 02/01/22 12:45 PM EST
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit over an effort to disqualify him from running for reelection because of his involvement in a rally preceding last year’s attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Cawthorn filed the federal suit against members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections over what he said was an “unconstitutional” challenge filed to the body by 11 voters last month. The 11 voters claimed Cawthorn’s speech at a rally preceding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot violated the 14th Amendment, which disallows people who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from running for Congress.
“Running for office is not only a great privilege, it is a right protected under the Constitution,” Cawthorn said in a statement. “I love this country and have never engaged in, or would ever engage in, an insurrection against the United States. Regardless of this fact, the Disqualification clause and North Carolina’s Challenge Statute is being used as a weapon by liberal Democrats to attempt to defeat our democracy by having state bureaucrats, rather than the People, choose who will represent North Carolina in Congress.”
The suit, filed before the Eastern District of North Carolina, takes issue with a state law that says someone’s ability to run for Congress can be challenged based only on a reasonable suspicion or belief that the facts of the challenge may be true.
more
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/592274-cawthorn-sues-over-effort-to-disqualify-him-from-running-for-reelection
