Reaction to Sen. Tillis retirement: Trump, NC Democrats both seem pleased with decision not to seek reelection

WASHINGTON (AP/WNCN) — 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.

Trump had already been threatening him with a primary challenge, and posted Sunday that Tillis’ announcement was “Great News!” 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 two-term Senator 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.

Tillis informed Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Saturday night of his decision to retire.

“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.

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.

North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton said the announcement came as good news.

“I mean, I think everybody gave a big wahoo when Thom Tillis decided not to run again,” she said.

However, Clayton said the party’s strategy hasn’t changed.

“Making sure that we’re activating community members year-round is something that our party’s been very focused on,” she said, adding that midterm elections depend on turnout. “And we’re trying to make sure that we’re building a 100-county strategy for the state. I want Democrats in every single corner of it.”

In his announcement, Tillis said this was not a hard choice, saying, “the choice is between spending another six years navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington or spending that time with the love of my life Susan, our two children, three beautiful grandchildren, and the rest of our extended family back home.”

Clayton provided her view about Tillis’ decision.

“He sees a Republican Party that’s saying, you know, you need to fall in line. You can’t actually stand up for your state. And we need somebody in Congress right now that’s willing to do that,” Clayton said.

Mitch Kokai, senior political analyst for the John Locke Foundation, said he suspects Tillis was leaning in this direction, but the president’s criticism likely factored into his decision.

“Thom Tillis was going to have a hard time getting out of a Republican primary, given the fact that the pro-Trump faction within the Republican Party was really against Tillis and the fact that the much smaller anti-Trump faction wasn’t a huge fan of him either,” Kokai said.

With Tillis off the ballot, Kokai said this makes the race easier for Democrats and harder for Republicans, with no clear GOP frontrunner to replace Tillis.

“Democrats, who were already seeing this as potentially their best source for a pickup in 2026, will even put a few more circles around North Carolina now,” he said.

On the Democratic side, US Congressman Wiley Nickel is already in the race. Many expect former Gov. Roy Cooper to run as well.

“Roy Cooper has won six statewide elections, is generally considered the most popular Democrat in North Carolina,” Kokai said.

Clayton said the NCDP, as a political party, does not participate in primaries, but she said she is looking forward to seeing who steps up to run.

“I do think that we’ve got a lot of really good leaders in the state and a bench in North Carolina that we’ve not had, honestly, for the last decade in this state,” she said.

Kokai did say Tillis’ timing could help the Republicans. The party has enough time to rally around a candidate before the campaign season really heats up.

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.”