Chuck Edwards | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2025 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's11th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Madison Cawthorn |
| Member of theNorth Carolina Senate from the48th district | |
| In office August 19, 2016 – January 1, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Tom Apodaca |
| Succeeded by | Tim Moffitt |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Charles Marion Edwards (1960-09-13)September 13, 1960 (age 65) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Teresa Edwards |
| Children | 2 (1 deceased) |
| Education | Blue Ridge Community College (attended) |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Charles Marion Edwards[1] (born September 13, 1960)[2] is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative forNorth Carolina's 11th congressional district since 2023. A member of theRepublican Party, he represented the48th district in theNorth Carolina Senate from 2016 to 2023.[3][4]
Edwards was born inWaynesville, North Carolina. He graduated from West Henderson High School in 1978 and studied business, accounting, and marketing atBlue Ridge Community College.[5]
Edwards joinedMcDonald's in 1989, working as an operations manager until 1991, senior business consultant from 1991 to 1996, and development coordinator from 1996 to 1998. He also worked as the vice president of Henderson County Partners for Economic Progress.[6] In 2013, he became a director of Entegra Financial Corporation.[7] In 2020, Entegra merged withFirst Citizens Bank.[8]
Edwards was appointed to the North Carolina Senate in August 2016 afterTom Apodaca resigned. He defeated Democratic nominee Norman Bossert in 2016, and was reelected in 2018 and 2020.[9] In 2024, Edwards held a ceremony and awardedDonald Trump with a French Fry Certification Pin, an award that he invented.[10]
Acting on a complaint filed by the Henderson County (North Carolina) Democratic Party, Edwards was sanctioned by the House of Representatives Communications Standards Commission on April 24, 2024, for making personal attacks against President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, in email newsletters sent to constituents in May, June, July and December of 2023.[11] Such attacks are prohibited by federal law and by rules of the House of Representatives when they are sent out as "mass communications" at taxpayer expense.[12]
On November 30, 2021, Edwards declared his candidacy forNorth Carolina's 11th congressional district in the 2022 election.[13] The district was represented by freshman Republican incumbentMadison Cawthorn. Cawthorn faced numerous scandals, had made a number of controversial statements, and was criticized by Edwards as an ineffective legislator.[14] Edwards was also endorsed by U.S. SenatorThom Tillis.
On May 17, 2022, Edwards defeated Cawthorn in the Republican primary with 33.4% of the vote.[15] Although he lost 12 of the district's 15 counties, he carriedBuncombe, its most populous, by over 2,000 votes, exceeding his overall margin of 1,338. Edwards also defeated Cawthorn inHenderson County by 3,191 votes. Henderson County is home to both Edwards and Cawthorn.[16]
Source:[17]
Source:[17]
In January 2024, Edwards introduced legislation which would prevent immigrants from being counted by theUnited States census, for the purposes of determining theUnited States congressional apportionment.[18] In February 2024, Edwards posted a picture onX of a large migrant caravan in Mexico in order to criticize the immigration policies of theBiden administration, suggesting thatJoe Biden was at fault for the migrants in the picture immigrating to the United States. However, the picture was taken in 2018, during theadministration ofDonald Trump.[19][20]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Chuck Edwards | 29,496 | 33.4 | |
| Republican | Madison Cawthorn (incumbent) | 28,112 | 31.9 | |
| Republican | Matthew Burril | 8,341 | 9.5 | |
| Republican | Bruce O'Connell | 6,037 | 6.8 | |
| Republican | Rod Honeycutt | 5,775 | 6.5 | |
| Republican | Michele Woodhouse | 4,668 | 5.3 | |
| Republican | Wendy Nevarez | 4,525 | 5.1 | |
| Republican | Kristie Sluder | 1,304 | 1.5 | |
| Total votes | 88,258 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Chuck Edwards | 174,232 | 53.8 | ||
| Democratic | Jasmine Beach-Ferrara | 144,165 | 44.5 | ||
| Libertarian | David Coatney | 5,515 | 1.7 | ||
| Total votes | 323,912 | 100.0 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Chuck Edwards (incumbent) | 245,546 | 56.8 | |
| Democratic | Caleb Rudow | 186,977 | 43.2 | |
| Total votes | 432,523 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
Edwards and his wife, Teresa, have had two children. In 2018, his 36 year old son died from firearm suicide after a lengthy period of untreated depression, leaving a baby daughter and wife behind.[22]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's 11th congressional district 2023–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 312th | Succeeded by |