Democrats see Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina as a possible vulnerability for Republicans in the 2026 midterms. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Democrats haven't won a Senate election in North Carolina since 2008, but they view Tillis as vulnerable. While Trump carried the state in his 2024 presidential election victory by three points – an improvement over his razor-thin margin in 2020 – Democrats won the statewide races for governor, attorney general and secretary of state.
"North Carolina needs a fighter for what's right for our state, not a rubber stamp for Trump. That's who Thom Tillis is," Nickel charged in a campaign launch video posted to social media.
Nickel edged Republican Bo Hines in 2022 to flip a red congressional district blue. But he declined to seek re-election in 2024 after his district was redrawn to favor the GOP.
In his campaign video, Nickel charged that Republicans "gerrymandered my district, so I couldn't run again."
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is the campaign arm of the Senate GOP, took aim at Nickel
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"Wiley Nickel is a far-left radical who wants illegal immigrants voting in our elections, drug dealers free on the streets, and parents kept from having a voice in their children’s education," NRSC spokesperson Joanna Rodriguez said in a statement to Fox News. "He’s so out-of-touch he chose to retire instead of facing voters in a tough election year, and he will be rejected by North Carolina voters in 2026."
Roy Cooper (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)
North Carolina is a top target for the Democrats in 2026, along with Maine, where moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election in the blue-leaning state.
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Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and in next year's midterm elections they are targeting open Democrat-held seats in Michigan and New Hampshire as well as Georgia, where first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff is viewed as vulnerable.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-takes-aim-trump-tillis-2026-senate-launch-video-tanking-our-economy