Less than a week after 1,000 angry Republican activists voted to censure Sen. Thom Tillis at their state convention, pundits and pols are beginning to ask what impact this will have when and if the GOP lawmaker seeks a third term in 2026.
Rated 74% by the American Conservative Union, and 100% by the National Right to Life Committee, Tillis nonetheless was censured by GOP activists for his vote in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act protecting same-sex marriages and his outspoken criticism of the Trump administration's hard-line anti-illegal immigration policy.
Although rated a strong 92% by the National Rifle Association, Tillis was one of 15 Republicans to support the law expanding background checks for the youngest gun buyers that President Joe Biden signed into law last year.
"In my view the censure of Senator Thom Tillis by the [North Carolina] Republican Party was warranted and long overdue," longtime political operative Marc Rotterman told Newsmax.
Rotterman added that Tillis is "way out step with the majority of the party on illegal immigration and traditional values. It's sad to say it but many in the party believe that Senator Tillis has become a card-carrying member of permanent Washington. He's lost touch with the Republican base and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he got a well- funded top tier primary opponent in 2026."
But others within the party are nervous about Republicans going after one of their own.
Asked Wednesday what he thought of the Tillis censure, House Banking Committee Chairman Pat McHenry, R.-N.C., simply responded: "Not helpful."
State Sen. Jim Burgin agreed, telling reporters: "I don't think we need to be attacking one of our own. You don't shoot your own elephants."
Three years can be an eternity in politics, and the fulminations of Tar Heel State Republican activists this year may be assuaged by 2026.
In addition, Tillis, who barely eked out reelection in '20 after his Democratic opponent confessed to sending sexual text messages to a strategist who was not his wife, may not run again in '26. The senator has already signaled he will pass on a much-rumored bid for governor next year when polls showed him losing badly to conservative stalwart and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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