ARE WE ANY BETTER OFF WITH MADISON CAWTHORN'S REPLACEMENT?

I know a lot of you are thrilled that Madison Cawthorn lost his primary yesterday. But state senator Chuck Edwards, the candidate who beat Cawthorn and who's likely to win the general election, is no prize.

Here he is in 2020 trying to punish communities that tried to reallocate money in police budgets.

While his political opponent calls the move a "cheap political stunt," Chuck Edwards' vow to defund Asheville if it defunds police is a real possibility.

After Asheville City Council voted Sept. 22 to defund police by 3% — actually more of a reallocation of funding to other areas — state Sen. Chuck Edwards, R-Hendersonville, announced plans to enter legislation to defund cities that defund their police departments in the upcoming 2021 General Assembly session.

Edwards, who represents the 48th Senate District in the legislature, said his idea is a dollar-for-dollar reduction, a reaction to a council action he calls "reckless."

Edwards' Democratic opponent, Mills River Mayor Pro-tem Brian Caskey, says what Asheville has done is reallocate spending to more appropriate areas, while removing the weight of responsibilities such as animal control from the Police Department.

(Source for bill.)

Here he is in 2021 sponsoring legislation that would force sheriffs to cooperate with ICE. Here he is defending his ongoing efforts to make voting more difficult in North Carolina.

Here he is campaigning at a crisis pregnancy center, a place that advertises itself as offer services to those who are pregnant, but steadfastly rejects the option of abortion:




He has an A+ rating from the NC Values Coalition, which rails against abortion and "the insanity of transgender ideology" -- oh, and Critical Race Theory, too.

I’m honored to receive this recognition for staunchly opposing CRT, supporting tighter absentee voting laws, & defending against discriminative abortion. If my conservative voting record isn’t obvious, I’ll say again: I will ALWAYS support the lives & values of WNC families #NC11 pic.twitter.com/pBvkLm1md6

— Chuck Edwards (@ChuckEdwards4NC) April 8, 2022

In addition, he has an A rating from the National Rifle Association, and for five years in a row he's won the "Conservative Excellence Award" from the American Conservative Union, the folks who run CPAC.

And he can demagogue on nothingburger issues that become right-wing media obsessions:

A “disinformation governance board” sounds more like something from the old Soviet Union than from the United States of America. A Biden appointee will get to decide what qualifies as “disinformation.” Conservatives have been censored enough! #NC11 #wncpol https://t.co/FSBU9Sz0De

— Chuck Edwards (@ChuckEdwards4NC) April 29, 2022

So, sure, he's no Madison Cawthorn. He's an ordinary Republican. But that's not much better.