North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn hit back at a challenge to his candidacy based on the argument that he engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” by suing the members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections on Monday.

The lawsuit argues that the North Carolina statute that allows people to challenge a candidacy is unconstitutional in part because it places the burden of proof on the candidate to show that he or she is in fact qualified to hold office.

A group of North Carolina left-wing activists last month filed a complaint against Cawthorn, asserting that his role in the Jan. 6 "insurrection" makes him constitutionally ineligible to hold office. The 14th Amendment of the Constitution bars those who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding office.

Cawthorn spoke at a rally on the Ellipse before the Capitol riot and objected to the counting of some electors for President Joe Biden’s victory. He denies engaging in either insurrection or rebellion.

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“I love this country and have never engaged in, or would ever engage in, an insurrection against the United States,” Cawthorn said in a statement. “Regardless of this fact, the Disqualification clause and North Carolina’s Challenge Statute is being used as a weapon by liberal Democrats to attempt to defeat our democracy by having state bureaucrats, rather than the People, choose who will represent North Carolina in Congress.”

Cawthorn’s lawsuit makes four arguments. First, it says that the statute violates his First Amendment rights because it triggers government action based only on “reasonable suspicion.” Second, it says that the statute violates his due process rights by requiring him to prove that he didn’t engage in an “insurrection or rebellion.” Third, it argues that the statute improperly overrides the House’s power to determine qualifications for its members. Finally, it says that the Amnesty Act of 1872, which reversed penalties on former Confederate soldiers, such as keeping them from holding office, means that the 14th Amendment provision no longer applies to current lawmakers.

James Bopp Jr., the lead counsel for Cawthorn, warned that the attempt to disqualify the North Carolina lawmaker is “not an isolated effort.”

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“Marc Elias, the Democrat lawyer behind the Trump Russia hoax, announced a few months ago a nationwide effort to disqualify about two dozen Republican members of Congress under this bizarre legal theory. Rep. Cawthorn is just the tip of Elias’s spear,” Bopp said.

The 14th Amendment has also been floated as a way to keep former President Donald Trump from holding office again.