Ex-GOP Rep Madison Cawthorn files to run for Florida House seat, cites Kirk death as final factor

Former GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn, whose only term was largely known for controversy, said Wednesday he's officially running for the Florida House seat vacated by fellow Republican Bryon Donalds – and suggested the killing of Charlie Kirk led to his decision. 

"There really was no option," Cawthorn told Fox News Digital. 

Kirk, a conservative political activist, was fatally shot by an assassin Sept. 10 at an outdoor rally at Utah Valley University. 

Cawthorn lost his  2022 reelection in the state GOP primary.

He faced a series of controversies in his first term including alleging to have been invited to orgies in Washington, D.C., at which he saw people doinng cocaine, bringing a firearm to a Transportation Security Administration check and calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “thug,” according to The Hill newspaper.