Tillis: Republicans’ Red Majority at Risk If They Don’t Abandon Losing North Carolina Senate Race

Senator Thom Tillis, the retiring Republican senator from North Carolina, says his party may end up having to abandon this year’s Senate race in his home state. He says the Republican nominee, former RNC chairman Michael Whatley, may not have what it takes to beat the popular Democratic former governor, Roy Cooper, less than six weeks from now. Mr. Tillis has long been a thorn in Republican leadership’s side, voting against the Big Beautiful Bill and threatening to derail a number of the president’s nominees. Now, as he prepares for retirement, he’s making clear that his own Senate seat is not only up for grabs — it appears to be an almost sure win for the Democrats. “It’s a data-driven decision. If we have a path to victory, then we double down on it. If we don’t, we move where we have the opportunity,” Mr. Tillis said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “Look, this is about keeping a majority in the U.S. Senate.”“This has to be about the higher purpose of keeping a majority in the Senate — not any one candidate,” Mr. Tillis argued. The Senate map has grown especially difficult for Republicans in recent months, given the polling and fundraising strength of several Democratic candidates. As of Sunday, Democrats are leading in the polls in all four of the states Republicans had hoped to put in play as possible flips — Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Minnesota. Mr. Tillis’s call to triage spending in order to defend Republican-held seats that are more competitive speaks to the concerns Republicans have not only about not flipping and blue seats, but of possibly losing the Senate altogether. On the House front, Republicans are faring far worse, if polling numbers and history are to be believed. Since 1938, on average, a president’s party loses anywhere from 30 to 36 House seats in that president’s second midterm election, often known as the “six-year itch.” Though his terms are non-consecutive, this will still be Mr. Trump’s second midterm election he has faced during his time in the White House. The House Republican majority currently stands at just three seats. Mr. Whatley, who has never before held public office, has long trailed Mr. Cooper in the polls. Mr. Cooper — a two-term governor and four-term state attorney general — has never lost an election in his life. According to polling aggregates, Mr. Whatley trails Mr. Cooper by about nine points. Mr. Cooper has also proven to be an exceptionally strong fundraiser, with more than $20 million in his campaign account at the end of the last quarter. Mr. Whatley, meanwhile, entered the home stretch with only $3.5 million for his campaign. “If you’ve got an aggregate of polls that have you [losing] in the high single digits or double digits, it’s approaching a point where it’s gonna be difficult to make” up that difference, Mr. Tillis argued during his CNN appearance. He said Mr. Whatley may yet pick up some “steam” in the next five weeks, though it appears unlikely. He says money would be better spent defending Senator Susan Collins in Maine and other incumbent senators in red states. “But the reality is, we have to keep a [Senate] majority. We’ve got to make sure Susan Collins wins, we’ve gotta focus on Alaska, we’ve gotta focus on Ohio,” Mr. Tillis said. “But we’ve also gotta focus on some of these states that are popping up as competitive. Texas, for example.”The Texas race may end up being the most expensive of the cycle, with President Trump’s outside spending group and Senate Republicans’ leadership committees expected to drop more than $200 million on behalf of the GOP candidate, state Attorney General Ken Paxton. Mr. Tillis says Mr. Trump’s decision to endorse Mr. Paxton in the primary was “an unforced error created by the president.” “The president needs to invest in there to make sure Paxton wins,” Mr. Tillis said.

Tillis: Republicans’ Red Majority at Risk If They Don’t Abandon Losing North Carolina Senate Race

Tillis: Republicans’ Red Majority at Risk If They Don’t Abandon Losing North Carolina Senate Race

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