Thom Tillis timeline in politics: From NC GOP leader to periodic Trump dissenter

By Staff reports

Updated July 2, 2025 1:41 PM

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.

Tillis rose from local politics to a U.S. Senate seat in just 12 years.
He frequently backed Trump’s agenda but opposed key actions like border powers.
Tillis will not seek reelection in 2026 after years of bipartisan work on legislation.

US Sen. Thom Tillis & NC Senate race

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican who has represented North Carolina in Washington for a decade , announced June 29, 2025, he won’t seek reelection amid dissent with President Donald Trump. The Huntersville resident, a former speaker of the state House of Representatives, was first elected to the Senate in 2014. Here is coverage of the announcement and what it means for the 2026 Senate race.

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When campaigning for the U.S. Senate, Thom Tillis promoted himself as both successful in business and someone with modest roots.

“I grew up in a trailer park, I got my four-year degree when I was 36 years old and I worked my way up in business,” Tillis said in opening remarks at a debate while running for reelection to the U.S. Senate in 2020.

Also true: Tillis started later in life than many politicians but excelled far more than most. Entering as a business executive, he rose from winning a seat on the town board of Cornelius near Charlotte to becoming a U.S. senator in just 12 years.

In the General Assembly, where he was a new Republican majority’s first House speaker, Tillis had a reputation as a moderate and a pragmatist, The Charlotte Observer reported in 2014. He celebrates his legacy there as having aided progress in job growth and reforming the state’s tax and regulatory.

During his leadership, legislators also achieved several conservative social measures, from abortion restrictions to a ban on same-sex marriages in the state constitution.

Tillis may be best known nationally for the times he broke with his party — often drawing rebuke and even a censure from hardline conservatives.

While he frequently has voted yes to Donald Trump’s legislative agendas and nominees, Tillis more than most in his party has voiced skepticism about some of the president’s plans. He also worked with Democrats to pass gun reform legislation and even a bill codifying the right to same-sex marriage.

While a candidate for US Senate Thom Tillis greeted supporters The Conservative Rally at the Central Marketing Tobacco Warehouse in Smithfield in 2014. Chris Seward File photo

Here is a timeline of some of North Carolina’s senior U.S. senator’s political career:

1998: Tills moved to North Carolina. He’d worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers before the company sold its consulting practice to IBM, which had a strong presence in North Carolina.

2003: Tillis elected to the town of Cornelius board of commissioners.

2006: Tillis won a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

2011: After his party won the majority in the state House, Tillis was elected speaker, even though he hadn’t chaired a single committee, a traditional path to power.

House Speaker Thom Tillis of Mecklenburg County shows off his new pine gavel to Ray Folwell, father of Rep. Dale Folwell, after closing the first day of the session. Shawn Rocco File photo

November 2014: Tillis defeated Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan to win North Carolina’s Senate seat.

December 2015: Tillis successfully introduced legislation to ensure compensation for victims of eugenics and sterilization laws doesn’t affect their federal benefits.

May 2016: Tillis called on Republicans to support Trump after his presumptive win in the primary election.

February 2019: Tillis published a column in the Washington Post opposing Trump’s plan to declare a national emergency to acquire funds to build a southern border wall. He agreed with the security strategy, he said, but not with steps that challenge the federal government’s separation of powers.

November 2020: Tillis won reelection to the Senate, defeating Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham.

Feb. 13, 2021: Tillis voted to acquit Trump in his impeachment trial following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

August 2021: Tillis was one of 19 Republicans in the Senate to vote in favor of President Joe Biden’s wide-ranging infrastructure package.

June 2022: In the wake of the Uvalde school shooting, Tillis worked with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to craft gun reform legislation.

Former Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham, left, and U.S. Republican Sen. Thom Tills discuss “how to build and maintain friendships across the political divide” at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2022. Travis Long tlong@newsobserver.com

November 2022: Tillis broke with some of his party to back legislation codifying the right to same-sex and interracial marriages.

June 10, 2023: The North Carolina Republican Party voted to censure Tillis for “blatant violations” of the party’s platform.

Jan. 25, 2025: Tillis cast the decisive vote to confirm Pete Hegseth, Trump’s controversial nominee for U.S. secretary of defense, despite having previously been noncommittal about whether he would support him.

Feb. 16, 2025: The N&O reported that despite sometimes clashing with Trump, Tillis largely fell in line with the president’s agenda during the first few months of his second term.

May 6, 2025: Tillis declined to support Trump’s pick for Washington’s top prosecutor due to his views on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

April 8, 2025: During a hearing about Trump’s push for new tariffs, Tillis asked a U.S. trade representative “Whose throat do I get to choke if it turns out to be wrong?”