Cawthorn endorses Walker in high-profile North Carolina Senate battle

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Rep. Madison Cawthorn is weighing in on the open Senate race in his home state of North Carolina, which will likely be one of the most hotly contested and expensive Senate battles next year as the Republicans try to regain the majority in the chamber they just lost in the 2020 election cycle.

Cawthorn, who was just elected to Congress in November and who at 25 is one of the youngest House members ever, on Wednesday endorsed former Rep. Mark Walker in the race for the Republican Senate nomination.

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"Mark has been an ardent supporter of President Trump, a conservative stalwart, and I know we can trust Mark to stop the radical socialist agenda the democrats want to implement. His commitment to our community, faith and values is unparalleled," said Cawthorn.

"It is more important than ever we choose a candidate with grit, determination and passion, and that candidate is Mark Walker," emphasized Cawthorn,  who’s considered a rising conservative star and has grabbed an outsized share of media attention for a freshman House member from the minority party.

Walker praised Cawthorn, saying that the freshman lawmaker "is going to be essential in helping our party expand and connect with the next generation of Americans. I am thankful for his endorsement and look forward to joining him in representing the great people of North Carolina in Washington."

Walker launched his Senate candidacy in early December, with his announcement first shared with Fox News.

The former three-term congressman and minister was the first GOP candidate to launch a campaign in the race to succeed retiring three-term Republican Sen. Richard Burr. But it’s doubtful he’ll be the only Republican to declare his or her candidacy. Former Gov. Pat McCrory, if he launches a Senate bid, would be a strong competitor.

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Former President Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, was also mulling a bid for the Senate in the state where she was born and raised. Sources close to the wife of Eric Trump, who served as a senior adviser and surrogate on Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, told Fox News in November that she was "interested and exploring" a run.

Former Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who went on to serve as Trump’s White House chief of staff, passed on a Senate run.

The battle for the Democratic nomination is already heating up. Former state Sen. Erica Smith, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2020 Democratic Senate nomination, has launched a campaign. So has current state Sen. Jeff Jackson, an Army National Guard captain who served in Afghanistan. The biggest name among Democrats, Gov. Roy Cooper, has not ruled out a Senate bid. Cooper was just reelected in November to second term steering North Carolina.

Burr announced during his successful 2016 reelection campaign that he wouldn’t run for a fourth term in 2022. Besides Burr, three other Senate GOP incumbents have announced that they are not running for reelection next year. They are Sens. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Portman of Ohio, and Richard Shelby of Alabama, who made his news on Monday.

Eighty-seven-year-old Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa has stayed mum so far on whether he will run in 2022 for an eighth term. But Grassley told Iowa reporters last week that any decision is "several weeks off, I would say."

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Another Republican Senate incumbent, two-term Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, is also mulling retirement rather than reelection in 2022.

The Senate is split 50-50 between the two parties, but the Democrats control the chamber due to the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. That means Republicans only have to flip one seat in 2022 to regain the majority they lost following the Democratic sweep in last month’s twin Senate runoff elections in Georgia. But the GOP is defending 20 of the 34 seats up for grabs next year.