A pro-insurrection Congressman now has some interesting competition!
Yesterday, Reverend and Buncombe County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara announced her candidacy for a U.S. House of Representatives position, as the Hill reports. The reverend will be running to represent North Carolina’s 11th congressional district seat in the 2022 mid-terms and will attempt to replace Republican Representative Madison Cawthorn. At 25, Cawthorn won the seat last year and became the youngest person elected to Congress.
In her campaign video, Beach-Ferrara boasted about winning local elections in her district by pushing for issues like mental health and the fight against the opioid crisis. She also stated the country’s need for a “really big bridge” to change the political divide.
“So with all due respect to the skeptics, this barbeque-loving, football-watching, proud Southern mom of three is running for Congress. And you better believe I’m running to win,” Beach-Ferrara said.
Another large factor of Beach-Ferrera’s campaign video was pointing out how unjust her opponent is for the position. Specifically, she brought up his support of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement and the insurrection.
“Some people will say a gay woman who’s a Christian minister just can’t get elected in the South, not to mention she’s a Democrat,” Beach-Ferrara said in her announcement video. “I say an insurrectionist who flirts with Nazis, fires up a violent crowd to attack our democracy, well he shouldn’t get reelected anywhere.”
As Citizen-Times writes, Rep. Madison Cawthorn has supported the conspiracy theory that Democrats stole the 2020 US Presidential Election. Cawthorn released a video about the alleged fraud, discussed the issue in Congressional meetings and on social media, and even spoke at a January 6, the day of the insurrection, rally in Washington, D.C. to a frenzied MAGA crowd.
“My friends, I want you to chant with me so loud that the cowards in Washington, D.C. that I serve with can hear you,” he said. “USA, USA, USA…”
The strength of our Republic rests in our system of free and fair elections. Add your name if you agree, every LEGAL vote must be counted and every ILLEGAL vote must be thrown out. https://t.co/Gvc9VSCt3D
— Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) November 23, 2020
According to HuffPost, Cawthorn was also on the House floor when the insurrectionists stormed the Capitol Building. Speaking to the Smoking Mountain News, Cawthorn stated that he had a gun on him and was ready to defend himself if things got violence.
“Fortunately, I was armed, so we would have been able to protect ourselves,” Cawthorn told the publication.
While a 1967 regulation exempts Congress members from a federal law banning firearms on the Capitol grounds, weapons are still banned on the House floor. But, it’s unclear if Cawtorn had a gun on his person. He and his aides have denied that fact, despite what Cawthorn earlier stated and alluded.
This isn’t even the end of Cawthorn’s current controversies. The politician has also been accused of several sexual assault crimes. As Fox News reports, this is the second time that the politician has faced sexual assault allegations. He waded through similar allegations during his initial campaign last year. The women say that Cawthorn, who is partially paralyzed, invited them to “fun dries” where he would make sexual advances.
I’m a Democrat, Christian minister, and current county commissioner running to unseat Madison Cawthorn. He helped incite the deadly insurrection on January 6th and remains a threat to our democracy. Chip in to flip this seat blue and unseat Cawthorn:https://t.co/xzmAgAuUU2
— Jasmine Beach-Ferrara (@JBeachFerrara) March 3, 2021
“These questions were repeatedly asked and answered during the course of the campaign,” Cawthorn’s communications director, Micah Bock, said in a statement to Fox News. “The voters of Western North Carolina responded to these allegations by giving Madison Cawthorn a 12-point victory over his opponent.”
With so much controversy stacked onto Cawthorn, it’s not surprising that a Democratic opponent would appear to face the new politician in the 2022 mid-terms. But, will Reverend Jasmine Beach-Ferrara win?
Source: The Hill, Citizen Times, HuffPost, Fox News, the Smoking Mountain News
