Republican Madison Cawthorn and Democrat Moe Davis are in a close race for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District seat, which represents most of western North Carolina. The two faced off in a two-day forum this weekend addressing issues ranging from police reform to the numerous unsolved cases of missing and murdered indigenous women.
They also faced questions about their vastly different backgrounds: Davis is a 62-year-old career military lawyer and retired Air Force colonel, while Cawthorn is a 25-year-old CEO of a real estate company. The forum — hosted by Blue Ridge Public Radio, Smoky Mountain News and Mountain Xpress — was moderated by reporter Cory Vaillancourt of BPR and Smoky Mountain News. Vaillancourt joins host Frank Stasio to talk about the standout moments from the forum.