Tillis touts working-class roots in 1st TV ad, as Senate race kicks back into gear
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, facing one of the toughest re-election bids in the country, used his first television ad of the 2020 general election to cast himself as a fighter for those struggling to make it.
“My job is fighting for your job,” Tillis said in the 30-second spot which began airing all across the state Tuesday. “We will build this economy back, and I’ll remember who needs it the most.”
Unspoken is the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to record unemployment across the nation and in North Carolina.
Coming just days after the March 3 primary, the pandemic basically froze the Senate campaign between Tillis, the Republican incumbent, and Democratic nominee Cal Cunningham.
The ad, in which Tillis highlights his working-class upbringing and frequent moves across the South, marks an unofficial restart of the race — which could be the one that determines which party controls the U.S. Senate in 2021. In the ad, he says his humble roots taught him humility, which he has brought to the Senate.
Cunningham campaign manager Devan Barber, in a “state of the race” memo released Tuesday, outlined her version of the race, painting Tillis as “too weak to stand up to his own party” and saying that “voters can see right through” Tillis’ recent support for Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s coronavirus response.
“Even in the midst of a public health and economic crisis that requires strength and leadership, Tillis has continued to show he is a weak politician who won’t stand up for North Carolinians if it puts him at odds with his party or the corporate special interests in Washington,” Barber wrote in her memo.
Polls show candidates very close
Polls have shown very close race between Tillis, a former IBM partner and N.C. House Speaker, and Cunningham, a one-term state senator who served in the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan and is now a corporate attorney. Cunningham, who lost a bid for the seat in the Democratic primary in 2010, leads by one point in the Real Clear Politics average of polls.
Both candidates have relied on virtual town hall appearances since the coronavirus pandemic eliminated the option of in-person meetings and rallies. North Carolina has more than 24,000 confirmed cases and 750 deaths, according to The News & Observer’s count.
It has also upended the state’s economy, pushing nearly 900,000 North Carolinians to apply for unemployment benefits since mid-March.
In the television ad, which shows a family loading a U-Haul in a trailer park, Tillis is reaching out to those who have lost their livelihoods or are on the edge financially.
“The people most economically vulnerable, their futures are on the line,” is how he put it in a meeting with Republican volunteers on May 8.
The two-week ad buy cost a little more than $750,000 and serves as a re-introduction to Tillis, who despite his time in statehouse leadership has “don’t know” numbers around 30% in favorability polls. The ad does not mention Cunningham.
“There is only one candidate in this race who can empathize with the financial hardships facing so many North Carolinians right now, and that’s Senator Tillis,” Tillis campaign manager Luke Blanchat said.
“When it comes to who they want in Washington working to save their jobs and revive the economy, the people of North Carolina are tired of the career-politician lawyers who always let them down, and instead want a Senator who knows what they are going through and has a plan to fix it.”
Tillis, who defeated Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan in 2014 with a come-from-behind victory, said he is focused on showing a sharp contrast with Cunningham and getting his message out about the pre-coronavirus economy and work he does with the military and veterans.
“We’ve got a good story to tell. I think it’s a story that wins the day in November,” Tillis said in a telephone interview with McClatchy last week.
Race expected to be one of most expensive in U.S.
The race is expected to be one of the most expensive in the nation with party-aligned groups signaling they will be spending heavily in the state. The Tillis ad is the first of the general election. It surely won’t be the last as Democrats try to erase the Republicans’ current 53-47 edge in the chamber.
Cunningham, despite a primary challenge, released general election-style ads during that campaign that did not mention his Democratic opponent. Cunningham said the pressure of being, likely, the decisive race in the nation is not what is driving him.
“I’m animated by a really strong desire to serve. I’ve got two teenage kids, and I want the world they grow up in to be better than the world we have right now. There’s the pressure I feel,” Cunningham said in a telephone interview with McClatchy last week.
“Future generations will judge how we handle this moment, and that’s the real pressure I feel. People are hurting. There’s real need. There’s real hunger for leadership.”
Libertarian Party nominee Shannon Bray and Constitution Party nominee Kevin Hayes will also be on the Nov. .3 ballot in the Senate race.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
