DES MOINES, Iowa — From activists on the far right to Elon Musk, allies of President Donald Trump have been quick to threaten primary challengers for Republican senators who don’t back his Cabinet picks and legislative priorities.
In the case of Iowa’s Joni Ernst, conservatives threatened to run against her if she didn’t back Trump’s pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth — before she announced she would.
Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy, a doctor before entering politics, is being closely watched for how he will question Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for health secretary.
South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, a Trump confidant, has long been targeted by the far right in his state and was booed at a home-state rally during the 2024 presidential campaign.
And there’s North Carolina’s Thom Tillis, who has positioned himself as a Republican willing to reach across the aisle to work with Democrats.
Tillis angered some on the right for not immediately supporting Trump’s first pick for attorney general, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz. Though Gaetz withdrew from consideration, Tillis remains a frustration to some among North Carolina’s right wing, in part for voting to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
Andy Nilsson, a onetime candidate for lieutenant governor, has filed paperwork to challenge Tillis. The retired businessman has called for a return to the Reagan-Bush Republican ethos, hardly an attack from the right. Tillis faced three Republican challengers in 2020, all posing as more conservative than him.
Tillis has reason to expect a right-wing challenge. That faction helped lift former Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson to the 2024 nomination for governor last year. But North Carolina is expected to be among the most competitive states for Senate Republicans to hold in 2026. Roy Cooper, a Democrat who just finished two terms as governor, has not ruled out running for the seat. National Republicans are aware of the risks of nominating someone too far to the right. Cooper’s Democratic successor, Gov. Josh Stein, beat Robinson — whose campaign was riddled with controversy — by nearly 15 percentage points in a state that Trump won by 3 points.
To that end, Trump’s team and Tillis have been working together behind the scenes, said former Gov. Pat McCrory, a fellow Republican.
“I anticipate there will be threats of challenging him from the right. But I also think he’ll deal with it as he has, with hard work and a record of accomplishment,” McCrory said. “I think the incoming administration sees that.”
“They also see he’s the best chance of keeping North Carolina red,” he added.
