Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina won't run in 2026 after
opposing Trump's bill
[June 30, 2025]
By ALI SWENSON and SEUNG MIN KIM
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said
Sunday he will not seek reelection next year, an abrupt announcement
that came one day after he staked out his opposition to President Donald
Trump’s tax breaks and spending cuts package because of its reductions
to health care programs.
His decision creates a political opportunity for Democrats seeking to
bolster their numbers in the 2026 midterm elections, creating a
wide-open Senate race in a state that has long been a contested
battleground. It could also make Tillis a wild card in a party where few
lawmakers are willing to risk Trump’s wrath by opposing his agenda or
actions. Trump had already been threatening him with a primary
challenge, and posted Sunday that Tillis' announcement was “Great News!”
“In Washington over the last few years, it’s become increasingly evident
that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and
demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species,”
Tillis said in a lengthy statement.
Tillis said he was proud of his career in public service but
acknowledged the difficult political environment for those who buck
their party and go it alone.
“I look forward to having the pure freedom to call the balls and strikes
as I see fit and representing the great people of North Carolina to the
best of my ability,” Tillis said in a statement.
Republicans hold a 53-47 edge in the Senate.
Trump, in social posts, had berated Tillis for being one of two
Republican senators who voted on Saturday night against advancing the
massive tax bill.
The Republican president accused Tillis of seeking publicity with his
“no” vote and threatened to campaign against him, accusing the senator
of doing nothing to help his constituents after last year’s devastating
floods in western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene.
“Tillis is a talker and complainer, NOT A DOER,” Trump wrote.
The announcement from the two-term senator surprised senior Republicans
with its timing, but not necessarily the substance. Tillis had planned
to announce his reelection plans later this year, likely September at
the latest, but had been heavily leaning in favor of retiring, according
to a person close to the senator.
In the hours before his announcement, Tillis was weighing two questions:
whether Trump and the White House would give him freedom to campaign
with some independence, and whether Tillis would have the full
protection of Senate Republican leaders, said the person, who was
granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics.
The GOP leadership’s decision to forge ahead with cuts to Medicaid that
Tillis repeatedly warned would devastate North Carolina, and the
president’s Truth Social post calling for a primary challenger to the
senator made it clear to him that the answers to those two questions
were no.
Tillis then decided he would announce his retirement, with the thinking
that it would remove any ambiguity whether he would flip his opposition
to the GOP’s sweeping tax bill.
He informed Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Saturday
night of his decision to retire.
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Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., speaks during a confirmation hearing at
the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis
Magana, File)
The North Carolina Republican Party chairman, Jason Simmons, said
the party wishes Tillis well and “will hold this seat for
Republicans in 2026.” Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the chairman
of the campaign arm for Senate Republicans, did not mention Tillis
in a statement but said the party's winning streak in North Carolina
will continue. Scott noted that Trump won the state three times.
Democrats expressed confidence about their prospects.
Former Rep. Wiley Nickel, who announced his candidacy in April, said
he was ready for any Republican challenger.
“I’ve flipped a tough seat before and we’re going to do it again,”
Nickel said in a statement.
Some said Tillis' decision is another sign of the dramatic
transformation of the Republican Party under Trump, with few
lawmakers critical of the president or his agenda remaining in
office.
It "proves there is no space within the Republican Party to dissent
over taking health care away from 11.8 million people,” said Lauren
French, spokesperson for the Senate Majority PAC, a political
committee aligned with the chamber’s Democratic members.
Tillis rose to prominence in North Carolina when, as a second-term
state House member, he quit his IBM consultant job and led the GOP’s
recruitment and fundraising efforts in the chamber for the 2010
elections. Republicans won majorities in the House and Senate for
the first time in 140 years.
Tillis was later elected as state House speaker and helped enact
conservative policies on taxes, gun rights, regulations and abortion
while serving in the role for four years. He also helped push a
state constitutional referendum to ban gay marriage, which was
approved by voters in 2012 but was ultimately struck down by the
courts as unconstitutional.
In 2014, Tillis helped flip control of the U.S. Senate to the GOP
after narrowly defeating Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan. During his more
than a decade in office, he championed issues such as mental health
and substance abuse recovery, Medicaid expansion and support for
veterans.
As a more moderate Republican, Tillis became known for his
willingness to work across the aisle on some issues. That got him
into trouble with his party at times, most notably in 2023 when
North Carolina Republicans voted to censure him over several
matters, including his challenges to certain immigration policies
and his gun policy record.
“Sometimes those bipartisan initiatives got me into trouble with my
own party," Tillis said, "but I wouldn’t have changed a single one.”
___
Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti in
Washington and Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina,
contributed to this report.
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