Warning signs flash for Tillis in North Carolina
By Max Greenwood - 09/20/19 06:00 AM EDT
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has been endorsed by President Trump and has the full backing of Republicans’ Senate campaign arm.
So when he took the stage at one of Trump’s rallies in Fayetteville, N.C., last week, the boos from some in the audience weren’t necessarily how a first-term Republican senator facing a primary challenge would hope to be received.
ADVERTISEMENT
The episode is illustrative of what Democrats and some Republicans say is Tillis’s increasingly apparent vulnerability heading into his 2020 reelection bid.
A Morning Consult survey released in July showed him with the lowest approval rating of any sitting senator — just 33 percent — and multiple polls have him trailing his potential Democratic challengers, including state Sen. Erica Smith and former state Sen. Cal Cunningham.
At the same time, Tillis is facing a primary challenge from retired Raleigh businessman Garland Tucker, and there are signs that he’s already beginning to take the contest seriously. He unveiled a $2.2 million television and radio ad buy on Monday touting his work with Trump. That ad campaign is slated to run through North Carolina’s March 3 primary.
more
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/462224-warning-signs-flash-for-tillis-in-north-carolina
