NC Republicans on Tillis’ Primary: “A Lot More Competitive Than a Lot of Folks in Washington Know”

Tillis facing “booing” & “moans and groans” from within his own party as his re-election campaign struggles

The GOP’s primary woes in North Carolina are getting more scrutiny this week in a new report from the Wall Street Journal that highlights the increasingly divisive fight plaguing Senator Tillis’ struggling reelection campaign.

Tillis has the lowest approval of any sitting Senator, he’s underwater among GOP primary voters, and he’s even been booed at recent Trump rallies in state. Top political analysts – including Inside Elections, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and Cook Political Report – have all shifted the race in Democrats’ direction in recent weeks, specifically citing Tillis’ primary struggles. Tillis is sweating his primary so much that he’s already spending $2.2 million on ads geared to fend off conservative businessman Garland Tucker.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Wall Street Journal: Earlier Breaks With Trump Linger in North Carolina Senate Race

Sen. Thom Tillis, considered vulnerable in 2020, aligns closely with the president

By Valerie Bauerlein

October 28, 2019

Key Points:

• Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is in lockstep with President Trump these days on everything… But he hasn’t always been.

• That discrepancy is dominating the first-term senator’s bid for re-election next year, as he faces a conservative challenger in a GOP primary in which rural Trump loyalists hold sway.

• But that earlier daylight between Mr. Tillis and Mr. Trump has given an opening to his opponent in next March’s primary, businessman Garland Tucker. Mr. Tucker got into the race after the senator wrote a February op-ed opposing Mr. Trump’s plan to fund the border wall by a national-emergency declaration. And even though Mr. Tillis reversed course, Mr. Tucker is running campaign ads characterizing him as a flip-flopper.

• “If I were to take a dipstick check of the state right now, this race is a lot more competitive than a lot of folks in Washington know,” said Jim Womack, GOP chairman in rural Lee County. “If the president went back to a neutral stance, Tillis is toast.”

• Mr. Tillis is ranked among the most vulnerable Senate incumbents in 2020. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report recently changed the race’s rating to “lean Republican” from “likely Republican,” citing the primary as a factor.

• Cook Political analyst Jennifer Duffy said Mr. Tillis must walk a fine line between being conservative enough for Republicans in a primary and remaining moderate enough for Democrats in a general election. “As a result, he doesn’t seem to please either side,” she said.

• Last month at a Trump rally an hour north of here, in the military town of Fayetteville, Mr. Tillis was booed.

• Terri Gore, who describes herself as “Trump first, Republican second,” was among those booing. Ms. Gore, a registered nurse from Whiteville, said she is happy to see Mr. Tillis defend the president but that it is too late to earn her vote. “A snake don’t turn into a puppy just because he puts a flea collar on,” she said.

• At this month’s meeting of the Columbus County GOP, there were “moans and groans” when a local legislator urged the 30 attendees to support Mr. Tillis, according to chairman Sammy Hinson.

Read the full story here.

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