‘It is what it is’: On the scene of Madison Cawthorn’s stunning loss

Two very different scenes developed in Hendersonville on Tuesday as a pair of rivals faced off for the title of GOP nominee to represent this quiet part of western North Carolina in the House of Representatives.

With the scenic Blue Ridge mountains rising in the background, state senator Chuck Edwards gathered with supporters at a small lodge with a man-made waterfall on the city’s outskirts, awaiting the night that could send him hundreds of miles away to Washington.

Across town at a small auto detailer and tire shop rented out by his campaign, Madison Cawthorn huddled with close allies and awaited his fate, left to the hands of voters in North Carolina’s 11th congressional district.