Republican North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis has announced that he is not seeking reelection in the 2026 midterms.
Tillis made the announcement Sunday, via a statement shared by his political team.
‘As many of my colleagues have noticed over the last year, and at times even joked about, I haven’t exactly been excited about running for another term,’ Tillis wrote.
‘That is true since 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. It’s not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election,’ he added.
The move comes as Tillis drew the ire of President Donald Trump Sunday over his opposition to the president’s ‘big, beautiful’ budget bill currently making its way through the U.S. Senate.
Tillis was one of two Republican senators who voted against the ‘motion to proceed’ on Trump’s budget bill Saturday evening, along with Kentucky Republican Rand Paul.
In a post made to his social media site Truth Social Sunday morning, President Trump came after Tillis, claiming that he ‘hurt the great people of North Carolina’ and calling him a ‘talker and complainer’
‘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! Tillis is a talker and complainer, Not A Doer! He’s even worse than Rand ‘Fauci’ Paul,’ Trump wrote just after 10:00 AM Sunday morning.
Tillis, who was set to face a reelection fight in a critical swing state next year in the 2026 midterms, raised significant concerns this week over the budget bill’s deep cuts to Medicaid.
Tillis shared projections that his state could lose $38.9 billion, impacting more than 600,000 North Carolinians.
Cutting Medicaid was seen by a number of Republicans as a way to pay for the president’s policy agenda, which includes increases in areas such as border security, which the White House asked to be at $150 billion.
Notably, Republican leaders in Tillis’ own state said they were willing to work with the hand they were dealt by Washington.
North Carolina’s State Senate Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger wrote on X, formerly Twitter Saturday that he supports ‘@realDonaldTrump’s Big Beautiful Bill and the legislature will work through any implementation issues.’
North Carolina is state that Trump has narrowly won in all three of his elections, yet still sees Democrat leadership at the state level, making it a swing state.
It is also home to a number of nationally prominent Republicans who could be frontrunners to replace Tillis, such as National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Richard Hudson and Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Whatley.
Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump – wife of his son Eric – is also from the state, and could potentially make a bid for the seat. After serving as the RNC Co-Chair in 2024, Lara Trump is now the host of My View with Lara Trump on Fox News.