By Associated Press - Tuesday, March 3, 2020

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A Republican primary runoff is looking likely this spring for the western North Carolina U.S. House seat being vacated by GOP Rep. Mark Meadows.

Lynda Bennett, a real estate company owner from Haywood County, was the top vote-getter in Tuesday’s 11th Congressional District primary. But unofficial results showed her falling short of winning the more than 30% of the votes needed to win the 12-candidate primary outright.

Second-place finisher Madison Cawthorn, a real estate investment company CEO, must officially ask for a May 12 runoff for the election to occur. State Sen. Jim Davis finished third, according to unofficial results.

The runoff winner will take on Democrat Moe Davis, who won his party’s primary over four other rivals. Davis is a retired Air Force colonel and former prosecutor at military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.

Libertarian and Green Party nominees will compete against the Democratic and Republican primary winners in the November general election.

Meadows, the former head of the House Freedom Caucus and a close ally of President Donald Trump, announced in December he wouldn’t seek reelection. Meadows, who hinted at a future job working with the president, endorsed Bennett in the primary. The far-western 11th District remains a Republican-leaning district despite recent redistricting.

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