The North Carolina Republican party has just revealed another wave of bewildering behavior. At their annual convention, the state party censured Sen. Thom Tillis with an overwhelming 799-361 vote. While this vote doesn’t come with any immediate consequences, it does foreshadow a potential primary challenge from the far-right contingent of the party in 2026.
What’s interesting is that this political blowback might actually play in Tillis’s favor, making him more appealing to independent voters and even some Democrats seeking a more moderate Republican candidate. Talk about irony.
Tillis has a history of straddling the political fence. He claimed his Senate seat in 2014 as the more conservative alternative to moderate Democrat Kay Hagan, scraping by with a narrow win. His 2020 re-election was anticipated to end in defeat against Cal Cunningham, but an extramarital affair scandal involving Cunningham turned the tables in Tillis’s favor.
Now, Tillis seems to be tacking towards a more pragmatic approach, shedding some of his extreme right-wing positions, and this shift might be the key to his survival in the political arena. The question is, can he survive the wrath of North Carolina Republicans?
Republican delegates censured Tillis primarily for his audacious support of basic human rights. His willingness to break ranks and work with his colleagues across the aisle has raised eyebrows within his party.
Tillis received criticism for his support of the Respect For Marriage Act last year, a law that upheld protections for same-sex and interracial marriages at the federal level. This, predictably, rattled both the state and national GOP platforms, which have typically stood against same-sex marriage.
The senator’s earlier opposition to same-sex marriage appears to have evolved, as he was one of the first to rally his GOP colleagues to vote in favor of the Respect For Marriage Act.
In addition, Tillis took heat for his criticism of former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and his endorsement of red flag laws. These laws permit state courts to temporarily confiscate firearms from individuals deemed to pose a potential danger to themselves or others.
It’s clear that Tillis has strayed from the ultra-conservative path, which begs the question – are his views too progressive for his own party? As it turns out, it seems that upholding human rights and promoting common-sense policies might be too much for the North Carolina GOP to stomach.
