North Carolina Republican freshman lawmaker Madison Cawthorn, only 24 at the time of his election win in 2020, quickly became a popular figure in conservative politics, only to eventually devolve into a target for many of those former conservative allies.

According to the Washington Examiner, as Cawthorn faces increasing controversy, including a fresh round of ethics complaints filed against him, his GOP opponents also smell blood, including state Sen. Chuck Edwards, who says that Cawthorn’s “experiment” in Congress is done.

“I’m running because the 14-month experiment here in District 11 has concluded, and it’s time to send someone to Washington, D.C., to represent the people of the mountains who has a deep history of accomplishment in life and in business and in serving the people of the district,” Edwards said.

“The people of mountains are ready for a change,” Edwards said, before lobbing another attack against Cawthorn, accusing him of “seeking political stardom” during his short time on Capitol Hill.

While Cawthorn still holds the lead in the latest polling, the gap has rapidly closed between the two men.

Poll from GOPAC on Madison Cawthorn’s #NC11 primary:

March 10-13
Cawthorn 49%
State Sen. Chuck Edwards 14%

April 25-26
Cawthorn 37.8%
Edwards 20.7%
Michelle Woodhouse 5.1%

(GOPAC has not endorsed a candidate)

— aaron navarro (@aaronlarnavarro) April 28, 2022

Edwards acknowledged that he might not be able to come up with the required resources to unseat Cawthorn in the primary, saying “Our biggest challenge right now is time and introducing voters outside of my [state] Senate district to my bio, my background, and my set of accomplishments,” Edwards conceded.

He added: “Of course, resources is a very important element in introducing a candidate to the voters.”

Only time will tell if Cawthorn’s popularity with Trump conservatives will continue to be enough to win the day, or if a challenger like Edwards can sneak in and change the game.