Washington – Senator Thom Tillis, RN.C., announced Sunday that he would not present himself to re -election, one day after having attracted the anger of President Donald Trump for opposing the party of the party National policy package..
The decision opens a siege in the battlefield of the North Carolina which was already one of the most highly contested races in the mid-term in 2026.
Tillis published a long declaration on his decision, saying that he was not enthusiastic about requesting a third term of six years in the Senate.
“As many of my colleagues have noticed it in the past year, and sometimes I even joked, I was not exactly delighted to run for another quarter,” said Tillis. “It is true since the choice is between spending six more years navigating in political theater and partisan blocking in Washington or spending this time with the love of my life Susan, our two children, three beautiful grandchildren and the rest of our extended family at home. It is not a difficult choice, and I will not seek re -election. ”
After Tillis voted against the advancement of the huge bill on the national GOP policy, Trump attacked it in a series of publications on social networks and threatened Potential primary challengers.
“Thom Tillis makes a big mistake for America and the wonderful people of North Carolina!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday evening.
Tillis compared himself to the old democratic sense. Joe Manchin by Virginie -Western and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona – who both became independent at the end of their mandates – without explicitly naming them, saying that independent voices attract contempt in politics.
“Democrats recently lost two of these leaders who have devoted themselves to making the Senate more functional and productive.
“This underlines the greatest form of hypocrisy in American politics. When people see an independent thought on the other side, they applaud. But when these same people see independent thought coming on their side, they died, ostracient and they are censored, “he continued.
Even before the announcement of Tillis, the siege of North Carolina was a higher target for the Democrats while they seek to cut the majority 53-47 of the GOP next year.
“Thom Tillis’ decision not to present itself to re-election is another blow to the chances of the Republicans while they are faced with a mid-term reaction which endangers their majority in danger,” said the spokesperson for the Sénatorial Democrat campaign, Maeve Coyle, in a statement. “Even Tillis admits that the GOP plan to reduce the costs of Medicaid and tips for families is toxic – and in 2026, the Democrats will overturn the siege of the North Carolina Senate.”
Democrats hope to be able to recruit Former Governor Roy Cooper To participate in the competition, which already includes the former Wiley Nickel representative.
“Regardless of Maga’s loyalist, Donald Trump, the picking to run in North Carolina, I am the Democrat who is ready to take them and win,” Nickel said in a statement on Sunday. “I have already overturned a difficult seat and we are going to start again.”
Republicans are now forced to rush to find a replacement for Tillis. Representatives Richard Hudson and Pat Harrigan are considered potential candidates, according to a GOP strategist.
The president of the National Republican Senate Committee, Tim Scott, expressed his confidence that the party would still be able to defend the headquarters without Tillis in the race.
“President Trump won the North Carolina three times, and the state has been represented by two Republican senators for more than a decade,” Scott said in a statement. “This sequence will continue in 2026 when the Northern Carolinians elect a conservative chief determined to advance an opportunity, prosperity and security program.”
Mélanie Zanona contributed.
