North Carolina Sen. Tom Tillis said on Sunday that he will not seek re-election next year. He said this was a sudden announcement that came just a day after President Donald Trump betting opposition to his tax credit and spending reduction package.
His decision will create political opportunities for Democrats who are trying to bolster their numbers in the 2026 midterm elections, and create a wide-open Senate race in a long-standing battlefield. He could also become a wild card in a party where there are few lawmakers willing to put Trump’s rage at risk by opposing his agenda and actions. Trump had already threatened him with his main challenge.
“Over the past few years, it has become increasingly clear in Washington that leaders are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise and demonstrate that independent thinking is becoming an endangered species,” Tillis said in a lengthy statement.
Tillis said he would have stood up for the third term, but he said he was proud of his career in public service, but recognized the difficult political environment for those who defeated their party and went by themselves.
“I look forward to having the pure freedom to call the ball and strike because I think I fit and represent the great people of North Carolina,” Tillis said in a statement.
Republicans hold the 53-47 edge in the Senate.
Trump accused Tillis of one of two Republican senators in Social Post who voted against the advancement of a massive tax bill on Saturday night.
The Republican president accused Tillis of seeking publicity in his “no” vote, and accused the senator of doing nothing to help his members after a devastating flood of western North Carolina from Hurricane Helen.
“Tillis is not an agent, he is the speaker and the complainer,” Trump wrote.
Jason Simmons, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, said the party wanted Tillis and would “hold this seat for Republicans in 2026.” Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, chairman of the Senate Republican campaign division, did not mention Tillis in a statement, but said the party’s streak in North Carolina will continue. Scott pointed out that Trump has won the state three times.
The Democrats expressed confidence in their outlook.
Former Congressman Wiley Nickel, who announced his candidacy in April, said he is ready for a Republican challenger.
“I’ve flipped the tough seat over before, but we’ll do it again,” Nickel said in a statement.
Some said Tillis’ decision is another sign of a dramatic change in the Republican Party under Trump, with few lawmakers critical of the president and his agenda being held.
“It proves that there is no space within the Republican Party against stoking health care from 11.8 million people,” said Lauren French, a spokesman for the majority PAC on the political committee alongside Democrats at the Chamber of Commerce.
Tillis became prominent in North Carolina. As a second term state legislator, he left his job as an IBM consultant and led GOP recruitment and fundraising efforts at the Chamber of Commerce for the 2010 election. Republicans have won a majority in the House and Senate for the first time in 140 years.
Tillis was later elected state president and served as a four-year role in helping to enact conservative policies on taxes, gun rights, regulations and abortion. He also helped promote the state’s constitutional referendum to ban marriages of gay people approved by voters in 2012 but ultimately abandoned by courts as unconstitutional.
In 2014, Tillis supported the GOP with the US Senate flip control after slightly beating Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan. During his ten-plus years in office, he defended issues such as mental health, substance abuse recovery, Medicaid expansion and support for veterans.
As a more moderate Republican, Tillis has become known for his willingness to work across the aisle on several issues. It was in 2023 when he was sometimes caught in trouble with his party, especially when North Carolina Republicans voted to denounce him on some issues, including his challenges with certain immigration policies and his gun policy records.
“Sometimes, these bipartisan initiatives bothered me with my own parties,” Tillis said, “But I wouldn’t have changed a single one.”
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Associated Press authors Lisa Mascaro and Joey Capelletti of Washington and Makiya Seminella of Raleigh, North Carolina contributed to the report.
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