Speculation swirls on ’26 candidates for Tillis’ Senate seat

Lara Trump and former Gov. Roy Cooper are the top picks, but neither has committed to running

Lara Trump, right, and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, left, have both been floated as potential candidates for Sen. Thom Tillis’ seat in 2026. (Derik Hamilton / AP Photo)

RALEIGH — Speculation is swirling about which candidates will lead the field for U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis’ seat following his announcement he will not seek reelection in 2026.

Republicans and Democrats alike reacted with praise for Tillis after the news broke.

Former N.C. Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry said he was thankful for Tillis’ “years of dedicated service to our state,” mentioning Tillis’ accomplishments as speaker of the N.C. House.

“I respect Senator Tillis’s decision to end his career in the Senate when he felt the time was right,” said N.C. Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, said on X.

Jackson’s name is one being floated as a candidate for Tillis’ seat should former Gov. Roy Cooper decline to run.

In an interview earlier this year with North State Journal, longtime Republican strategist Carter Wrenn said, “Jackson’s somebody, as a Republican, he scares me down the road.”

The state’s other senator, Sen. Ted Budd, had not commented publicly immediately after the news broke, but issued a statement to North State Journal.

“For nearly two decades, Senator Tillis has served the people of North Carolina with devotion in the state House and our nation’s Capital. I respect his commitment to public service as well as his decision not to run for reelection,” Budd said.

Budd added, “I will work hard to ensure we elect a strong conservative candidate to represent the people of North Carolina in 2026.”

Former U.S. Congressman Wiley Nickel, the only Democrat to have already filed for the seat, took a harsher tone, stating on X, “Thom Tillis is out. No matter which MAGA loyalist Trump picks, I’m the only Democrat in this race and I’m ready to win.”

Nickel didn’t seek reelection last year after serving one term in Congress, citing redistricting as the reason.

Not everyone sees Nickel as a frontrunning contender.

A recent Politico report on Democrats betting on Cooper to get in cited an anonymous “progressive strategist” who said, “If it’s Roy Cooper, there’s no point for anyone else to run. But no one is getting out the way for Wiley f—ing Nickel.”

According to The Associated Press, Cooper’s spokesperson Morgan Jackson said the former governor “continues to strongly consider a run for the Senate and will decide in the coming weeks.” As July Fourth approaches, his status hasn’t changed.

Other names floated include Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt and Democratic Congresswomen Alma Adams (Charlotte), Deborah Ross (Raleigh) and Valerie Foushee (Hillsborough).

A Democrat has not won a North Carolina Senate seat since 2008, when the late Kay Hagan defeated Elizabeth Dole.

On the Republican side, three individuals have paperwork on file with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for the seat: Triad area businessman Andy Nilsson, attorney and former JAG Officer Don Brown and Brooks Agnew, an author and former manufacturing engineer.

“Thom Tillis is out,” Nilsson reacted on social media. “I’m still here, crisscrossing the state, defending America First, ICE, and Trump’s nominees from the Woke Left.”

Brown issued a lengthy post on X, which in part said Tillis’ announcement was “good news” for the state and characterized Tillis as a “RINO” — Republican in name only — who would have lost the primary.

Agnew reacted by stating he predicted Tillis’ departure six months ago and that if Trump called him up, he would serve.

N.C. Speaker of the House Destin Hall (R-Granite Falls) issued a brief statement, urging “unity” behind whoever the president favors.

“The NC Senate race is too important to be derailed by a messy, divisive primary. The real fight is against the radical left destroying our country,” wrote Hall. “We must unify behind whoever President Trump picks and send a conservative fighter to DC. Let’s get to work and defeat the Democrats.”

And Trump has made his pick clear — Lara Trump.

He told reporters during a July 1 press gaggle that his daughter-in-law would be his first choice to replace Tillis.

“I mean, that would always be my first choice, but she doesn’t live there now, but she’s there all the time,” said Trump.

To be a U.S. senator, a candidate needs to be at least 20 years old, hold U.S. citizenship for at least nine years and be a resident of the state in question at the time they are elected. Lara Trump, 42, meets the first two requirements, but while she is a North Carolina native, she does not currently live in the state.

“I don’t know who the candidates are going to be,” the president said. “I think you’re going to have one of the congressmen step up and should do very well.”

Lara Trump has considered the seat before, telling The Associated Press in late 2024 she was seriously considering it. She married the president’s son Eric in 2014 and currently has a show on Fox News called “My View with Lara Trump.”

Another name on the top of the list is Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Whatley, who led North Carolina’s Republican Party through Trump’s 2016 victory before taking on the RNC role in 2024 alongside Lara Trump.

Whatley has not publicly indicated one way or the other about entering the race, but an unnamed source indicated to The Associated Press that Whatley is “honored to have the RNC position and is neither actively considering nor putting out feelers for the Senate race.”

Other names floated include North Carolina Republican Congressmen Richard Hudson (Southern Pines), Pat Harrigan (Hickory) and Brad Knott (Raleigh).

“I am humbled by and grateful for the hundreds of North Carolinians who have encouraged me the past few days to run for the US Senate,” wrote Hudson on X. He added his focus remains on serving his district and his work with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which he has successfully led for the past two election cycles.

His NRCC role has elevated him as the highest-ranking Republican member of the North Carolina delegation and puts him just four spots away from the U.S. House Speaker role. He was first elected to the 8th Congressional District in 2012 and subsequently reelected four times to that district through 2020. Changes in redistricting shifted him to the state’s 9th District for the 2022 and 2024 election cycles.

In a post on X, Harrigan noted the excitement around the 2026 race but deferred to Lara Trump, writing that if she gets in the race, “I’ll be the first to endorse her and the first to fight for her victory.”

Harrigan is in his first term representing North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District. He first ran for the seat in 2022 and lost to Jackson. Harrigan, a two-time Bronze Star recipient during his Afghanistan deployment and West Point graduate, has been a vocal backer of Trump and has continued to rise in popularity among GOP voters.

North State Journal reached out to Knott’s staff about whether he would consider running and is awaiting a response.

About A.P. Dillon 1695 Articles
A.P. Dillon is a North State Journal reporter located near Raleigh, North Carolina. Find her on Twitter: @APDillon_