Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) announced Sunday that he will not be seeking re-election in 2026 just a little over 12 hours after President Trump announced that he will be meeting with primary challengers in the coming days.
Tillis, who was widely seen as one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the upcoming midterm elections cycle, drew President Trump’s ire on Saturday by voting against the White House-backed Big Beautiful Bill. In doing so, he joined Rand Paul (R-KY) as the only two Republican senators to vote against the president’s vital legislation.
“Thom Tillis has hurt the great people of North Carolina. Even on the catastrophic flooding, nothing was done to help until I took office. Then a MIRACLE took place!” Trump wrote in a follow-up post on Sunday morning. “Tillis is a talker and complainer, NOT A DOER! He’s even worse than Rand ‘Fauci’ Paul!”
A few hours after the scathing post, which was the third from President Trump targeting the vulnerable incumbent since his decision to oppose the Big Beautiful Bill, Tillis announced that he will not be seeking re-election.
“As many of my colleagues have noticed over the last year, and at times even joked about, I