Election updates: Mixed results for Trump-backed candidates in GOP primaries

Freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s wild freshman year appears to have caught up with him.

ABC News has learned that Cawthorn has just conceded the race in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District -- a seat he won in 2020 at the age of 25, making him the youngest person in the 117th Congress.

State Sen. Chuck Edwards, one of seven Republicans challenging Cawthorn for the nomination, declared victory in a statement on Tuesday night. ABC News has yet to project a winner in the race, but early returns showed Edwards ahead of the pack.

"This is simply incredible," Edwards said. "Against all odds, we fought hard to win this election and provide clear conservative leadership for the mountains. I am so grateful for the support I received and am forever indebted to the hardworking people of this district who made this victory possible. Now, we will harness this energy, come together as a party, and keep this seat in Republican hands in November. My campaign has been about staying true to mountain values and delivering real results for Western North Carolina, and that is exactly what I intend to do."

Republican voters were tasked with deciding if they wanted to keep Cawthorn around despite multiple scandals, including his unsubstantiated claims that some of his GOP colleagues on Capitol Hill invited him to sex parties and used cocaine.

He later told House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., that his remarks were exaggerations, but the incident caused some in the party to look to Edwards as a possible replacement.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who backed Edwards in March, said Cawthorn had "fallen well short of the most basic standard western North Carolina expects from their representatives."

Other controversies surrounding Cawthorn include allegations of insider trading, trying to bring a loaded gun through airport security and his description of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a "thug."

Still, Cawthorn had former President Donald Trump on his side heading into Tuesday’s contest, but it doesn’t appear to have been enough to sway enough voters. Trump said Monday that Cawthorn should be given a "second chance" after making some "foolish mistakes."

Josh Shapiro, who is quarantining with COVID Tuesday and running unopposed for the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania governor, put out a statement about his general-election opponent, Trump-backed Doug Mastriano, now that Mastriano is projected to win.

Shapiro slams Mariano's stance on abortion rights and election conspiracies, saying in a statement that "Pennsylvanians need a Governor who can meet this moment, but Republicans just nominated a dangerous extremist who wants to take away our freedoms. The contrast in this election could not be clearer – Doug Mastriano wants to ban abortion without exceptions, restrict the right to vote and spread conspiracy theories, and destroy the union way of life for hard working Pennsylvanians."

Mastriano participated in the Jan. 6 rally before the march to the Capitol, organized buses to the rally and was caught on camera walking past barricades at the Capitol ahead of the deadly attack. He has denied participating in any violence.

Republicans in the state were worried about Mastriano getting the nomination, while Democrats were vying for that outcome, hoping Shapiro can appeal to more voters in a general election. The race takes on additional significance because the winner appoints the secretary of state, the officer who will oversee elections in the battleground state.

ABC News projects that Chris Deluzio will win the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District.

Deluzio is a veteran and voting rights attorney and beat out LGBTQ rights advocate Sean Meloy for the Democratic nomination in the seat currently held by a Democrat. The district Deluzio ran in is being vacated by Rep. Conor Lamb, who ran for Senate in the state but fell short to Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in the Democratic primary earlier Tuesday night.

In the Pennsylvania gubernatorial Republican primary, ABC News projects state Sen. Doug Mastriano will win, beating out his closest primary rival, former Rep. Lou Barletta.

Mastriano, a retired Army colonel and long proponent of "the big lie," gained former President Donald Trump's endorsement only three days ago. Mastriano attended Trump’s Jan. 6 rally in Washington and falsely claimed in December 2020 that "cheating and fraud happened in our state." As a state senator, he also attempted to launch a forensic "audit" of the state’s election results, similar to the partisan inquisition that took place in Arizona. It failed to find any evidence of widespread fraud.

The race is especially significant since the governor of Pennsylvania gets to name the secretary of state -- the state's chief election official, charged with overseeing elections.

The House Jan. 6 committee has subpoenaed Mastriano, given that he was in communication with Trump on Jan. 6, but neither he nor the committee has confirmed whether he complied with the order.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro, running unopposed for the Democratic nomination for governor, has called Mastriano "the most extreme and dangerous GOP candidate." The two will face off in November.