Thom Tillis’ full statement on why he won’t seek reelection

Tillis criticized politicians who “really don’t give a damn about the people they promised to represent.”

This weekend, NC Sen. Thom Tillis said he would not vote for President Trump’s budget bill and its “devastating” Medicaid cuts, which could eventually kick more than 630,000 North Carolinians off their health insurance. 

Almost immediately, Trump vowed to back a challenger against Tillis in the Republican primary, a threat he has hinted at several times before when Tillis expressed reservations about some of Trump’s most contentious policies. 

Soon after Trump’s latest threat, Tillis, in a surprise announcement, said he’d had enough and would not seek reelection in 2026, turning what was already expected to be an intense race into perhaps the most consequential in the country. 

If Democrats flip Tillis’ Senate seat, it would give them a chance to take back control of the Senate — something they almost certainly couldn’t do without it. 

Tillis has been a stalwart in North Carolina politics since 2006, when he won a seat in the North Carolina House. He was elected NC House Speaker when Republicans took control of the chamber in 2011. Over his career, he gained a reputation for at least being willing to consider a bipartisan approach to governing. 

He backed federal legislation to recognize gay marriage, for example, drawing frequent outrage from the far right wing of his party.

Here is Tillis’ full statement announcing he would not seek re-election.

‘An endangered species’

It has been a blessing to go on a journey from living in a trailer park and making minimum wage as a young man to having the honor of serving as U.S. Senator for North Carolina. 

I am proud of my career in public service, including hard-fought victories like passing historic tax reform as North Carolina Speaker, and working in the Senate to help pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and confirm three conservative Supreme Court justices and counting.  

What I’m most proud of are the bipartisan victories: passing the first-in-the-nation eugenics compensation as Speaker, and working across the aisle in the Senate to pass the largest investment in mental health in American history, passing the Respect for Marriage Act and monumental infrastructure investments, and reestablishing the Senate NATO Observer Group. Sometimes those bipartisan initiatives got me into trouble with my own party, but I wouldn’t have changed a single one.  

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.  

Democrats recently lost two such leaders who were dedicated to making the Senate more of a functional and productive legislative body. They got things done. But they were shunned after they courageously refused to cave to their party bosses to nuke the filibuster for the sake of political expediency. They ultimately retired and their presence in the Senate chamber has been sorely missed every day since. 

It underscores the greatest form of hypocrisy in American politics. When people see independent thinking on the other side, they cheer. But when those very same people see independent thinking coming from their side, they scorn, ostracize, and even censure them. 

Too many elected officials are motivated by pure raw politics who really don’t give a damn about the people they promised to represent on the campaign trail. After they get elected, they don’t bother to do the hard work to research the policies they seek to implement and understand the consequences those policies could have on that young adult living in a trailer park, struggling to make ends meet. 

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. 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. 

I am beyond grateful for the friends I’ve made over the years in North Carolina and our nation’s capital, as well as my amazing staff who are among the very best the Senate has to offer.  

I still look forward to continuing to serve North Carolina over the next 18 months. I look forward to solely focusing on producing meaningful results without the distraction of raising money or campaigning for another election. I look forward to having the pure freedom to call the balls and strikes as I see fit and representing the great people of North Carolina to the best of my ability.