Who Is Madison Cawthorn? 8 Facts About The Youngest Congressman And His Fiancée

Republican rising star Madison Cawthorn will become the youngest member of Congress in modern history following his election victory Tuesday night.

The ultra-conservative Cawthorn defeated Democratic incumbent Moe Davis to capture the 11th Congressional District seat. He will replace former North Carolina congressman Mark Meadows, who resigned in order to serve as President Trump’s chief of staff, The New York Times reported.

“Cry more, lib,” Cawthorn wrote on Twitter after the Associated Press was the first to call his victory.

New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was previously the youngest elected member in modern history at 29 years old.

Cawthorn won the district primary against a challenger picked by Meadows and backed by Trump. The former congressman had chosen Lynda Bennett to run in his stead, The National Review reported.

Controversy previously loomed over Cawthorn’s campaign after it created a website attacking journalist Tom Fiedler for working for Senator Cory Booker, The Bulwark reported.

“(Fiedler) quit his academia job in Boston to work for non-white males, like Cory Booker, who aims to ruin white males running for office,” the website read. Cawthorn subsequently apologized for the incident, saying a staffer had written the post without his knowledge.

“The syntax of our language was unclear and unfairly implied I was criticizing Cory Booker,” Cawthorn said in a statement. “I have condemned racism and identity politics throughout my campaign including during my convention speech when I highlighted M.L.K.’s vision for equality.”

However, with Cawthorn's campaign claiming victory here are eight facts about Cawthorn and his fiancée that voters previously might not have known.

Fact one:

Cawthorn, 25, reached the minimum legal age to serve in the House just days before the election to become the youngest electee since the 1700s. According to the constitution “No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years."

Fact two:

Cawthorn was partially paralyzed in a 2014 car accident and uses a wheelchair as a result.

Fact three:

Cawthorn is the owner of a real estate investment company and a motivational speaker.

Fact Four:

Cawthorn was home-schooled in Hendersonville and received a full-ride ROTC scholarship to NC State.

Fact five:

Cawthorn was nominated to the U.S. Naval Academy by Rep. Mark Meadows in 2014.

Fact six:

Cawthron's fiancee, Cristina Bayardelle, is an American fitness model, athlete, fitness instructor, and personal trainer from Florida.

Fact seven:

Bayardelle is studying to be an anesthesiologist, according to an Instagram post by Cawthorn.

Fact eight:

Bayardelle mainly works for CrossFit and has competed in six different CrossFit tournaments over the last five years, most recently in 2020.