Sen. Ted Budd makes staff changes to focus on NC’s 2028 election. Yes, 2028.
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- Sen. Ted Budd reassigns staff to focus on his 2028 Senate reelection campaign.
- Stronger Nation Fund will expand fundraising, polling and voter education.
- Tucker Knott moves to senior adviser for Budd PAC; Ryan Alban becomes chief of staff.
North Carolinians don’t yet know all of the candidates who will appear on their 2026 ballots, but Sen. Ted Budd has announced changes to his own team to devote more attention to his 2028 reelection campaign.
Budd announced Wednesday that Tucker Knott, his chief of staff, would step down from his Senate office and serve as senior adviser to his political operation.
That includes becoming a board member of a nonprofit supporting Budd, Stronger Nation Fund Inc. So-called social welfare nonprofits can work to help elect candidates, with some restrictions.
Budd’s team anticipates his first Senate reelection bid to be a hard-fought campaign, and plans to ramp up fundraising operations, polling and voter education through Stronger Nation Fund.
Jason Theilman, the former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, will spearhead Stronger Nation Fund’s political operation.
Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, said that Budd’s decision to focus on his 2028 reelection, this early into his Senate term, shows that the differences between the House and Senate are narrowing. Cooper said members of the House are known to be in constant reelection mode since they serve two-year terms, but senators have historically had breathing room to legislate in the middle of their six-year terms.
“Clearly, those days are gone,” Cooper told McClatchy. “At this point, the difference between the House and the Senate has essentially vanished, and I think this is just more evidence of that. There is no break. There is no moment reserved for governing anymore.”
Who is Ted Budd?
Budd, 54, a Republican from Davie County, had no legislative experience before being elected to the U.S. House to represent the Triad in 2017. During his three terms in the lower chamber, Budd aligned himself with the far-right Freedom Caucus and President Donald Trump.
The latter decision paid off when Budd ran to succeed outgoing Sen. Richard Burr.
Republicans flooded the 2022 primary ballot vying for Burr’s open seat. That included former Gov. Pat McCrory and former Rep. Mark Walker.
But an endorsement from Trump solidified Budd’s path to the Senate.
Budd tapped Knott, as soon as he took office in 2023, to lead his team.
“Tucker Knott is a true son of North Carolina, and I am grateful for his many years of faithful service in my office, to our state and to Congress,” Budd said in a written statement to McClatchy.
Who is Tucker Knott?
Knott, a Republican from Raleigh, launched his political career working on the 2012 campaign of George Holding, who won a congressional seat that year.
Knott worked his way up to chief of staff in Holding’s office, before Holding retired and was succeeded by Democrat Rep. Deborah Ross.
He later joined the staff of Rep. Connie Conway, a Republican from California, as chief of staff when Budd hired him away to lead his team in 2023.
“For more than a decade, Tucker has provided invaluable advice to Representatives and Senators, particularly within the North Carolina Congressional Delegation,” Budd said. “His strong moral compass, political instincts, and personal relationships on and off the hill were critical to the success of our office over the last three years.”
Budd said Knott has grown into a personal friend.
He is also the brother of Rep. Brad Knott, a first-term Republican from Raleigh, who together make up half of a set of quadruplets. Budd’s team said that Tucker Knott’s leave allows him to not only focus on Budd’s candidacy, but also his brother’s.
2026 Senate race
Rep. Knott faces reelection in 2026, and again in 2028.
But before Budd’s name appears on the ballot, another Senate race has to conclude.
North Carolina’s 2026 Senate race is expected to break fundraising records. That’s been the reputation of campaigns involving Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville. And political observers believed Tillis would face off against former Gov. Roy Cooper, a popular Democrat from Nash County.
But Tillis, a moderate Republican known for working across the aisle to pass large pieces of legislation, ended his reelection campaign in late June after a disagreement with Trump over health care coverage in the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Cooper is now likely to run against former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley, handpicked by Trump to succeed Tillis, if Whatley can get through a primary that includes Elizabeth Temple and Don Brown, a former JAG officer.
North Carolina’s 2026 Senate race is expected to pull in well over $500 million.
Legislating vs. campaigning
Tillis has always been open that while he’s campaigning he moves right to be closer to his base, and while in the middle of his term he takes a more moderate approach in order to pass large pieces of legislation that he believes help his constituents. That has at times put him at odds with his own party, like when he helped craft gun reform bills or legislation that meant to codify the right to same-sex marriage.
Cooper sees this as a double-edged sword.
“The good part of the Senate was that they didn’t have to be on the constant reelection lurch,” Cooper said. “The bad part was that they could kind of move away from their constituents toward the middle of their term. We used to see that. We would see members of Congress hue closer to their constituents at the beginning of their term, at the end of their term. And in the middle, you could watch their voting patterns, and you could see them sort of casting more votes from a place of freedom.
“If you want people to hew to the public opinion, then I think this constant reelection motive means that they are going to keep closer to public opinion throughout the course of their term,” Cooper said.
Budd is known for keeping close to both the will of the party and the president. However, he recently blocked Senate confirmation votes for nominees to positions in the Department of Homeland Security until Secretary Kristi Noem released funding earmarked for Helene relief in North Carolina.
On Tuesday, Budd announced funding for Western North Carolina was being approved on a regular basis and he would drop his holds on DHS nominees.
New leadership
Knott’s departure does not mean Budd will be making decisions without a chief of staff.
He immediately promoted his deputy chief of staff, Ryan Alban, to take over for Knott.
“I am thankful that Ryan Alban will continue to serve my office and step into the role of chief of staff,” Budd said in a written statement. “Over the last several years, Ryan has held key leadership positions as a member of the team, proving himself as a dedicated public servant, strong legislative mind and thoughtful leader.”
Alban, who has often appeared, in interviews alongside the senator, has been Budd’s legislative director and his national security adviser. He’s also served as the U.S. Army’s legislative liaison; defense fellow for Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri; and the National Guard’s House and Senate legislative liaison.
Prior to his work in Congress, Alban served as an Army infantry officer and served a combat tour in Afghanistan.
This story was originally published December 3, 2025 at 12:00 PM.
