Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina apparently decided to have his own Independence Day on Sunday, five days before the nationwide celebration.
Tillis’s surprise announcement that he will not seek reelection next year frees him from having to worry about facing a MAGA-approved, likely Trump-endorsed challenger in his state’s March 3 primary. Even if Tillis hypothetically navigated that primary, an equally worrisome November general election would have been ahead of him, particularly if former Gov. Roy Cooper were to enter the race.
The last five presidential elections illustrate how competitive North Carolina has become. The weakest showing by a Democratic nominee in the Tar Heel State was Hillary Clinton’s 45.2 percent in 2016, followed by Kamala Harris’s 47.7 percent last year. President Obama’s 48.4 percent in his 2012 reelection comes next, followed by Joe Biden’s 48.6 percent in 2020. The best result was Obama’s victory in 2008, when he won 49.7 percent of the vote.
The Republican primary now looms large. Will the winner be a mainstream candidate with swing-voter appeal like Tillis, or will GOP voters in the
What is The Cook Political Report?
The Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the US House of Representatives, US Senate, Governors and President as well as American political trends.
Subscribe Today
Our subscribers have first access to individual race pages for each House, Senate and Governors race, which will include race ratings (each race is rated on a seven-point scale) and a narrative analysis pertaining to that race.