{"id":1640,"date":"2025-06-29T19:17:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T19:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/pat-harrigan-michael-whatley-lara-trump-republicans-in-run-to-fill-thom-tillis-north-carolina-seat\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T19:17:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T19:17:07","slug":"pat-harrigan-michael-whatley-lara-trump-republicans-in-run-to-fill-thom-tillis-north-carolina-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/pat-harrigan-michael-whatley-lara-trump-republicans-in-run-to-fill-thom-tillis-north-carolina-seat\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat Harrigan, Michael Whatley, Lara Trump: Republicans in run to fill Thom Tillis&#8217; North Carolina seat"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"storyParagraphFigure\" readability=\"38\">\n<p>Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Sunday he will not seek reelection. This comes a day after he opposed President Donald Trump&rsquo;s Big Beautiful Bill, leading to the president threatening him about the election next year. With Tillis&rsquo; seat vacated next year, several potential replacements names have surfaced, including Trump&rsquo;s daughter-in-law Lara.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class> <span class> <picture><source media=\"(max-width:767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/ht-img\/img\/2025\/06\/29\/550x309\/Thom_Tillis_1751220934758_1751220940410.png\" alt=\"Pat Harrigan and Lara Trump are in the run to fill Thom Tillis seat(X and Bloomberg)\" title=\"Pat Harrigan and Lara Trump are in the run to fill Thom Tillis seat(X and Bloomberg)\"><\/source><\/picture> <\/span><figcaption>Pat Harrigan and Lara Trump are in the run to fill Thom Tillis seat(X and Bloomberg)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;In Washington over the last few years, it&rsquo;s become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species,&rdquo; Tillis said in a lengthy statement on Sunday.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Sometimes those bipartisan initiatives got me into trouble with my own party, but I wouldn&rsquo;t have changed a single one.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Breakdown of candidates that could replace Sen Thom Tillis<\/h2>\n<p>Speculated GOP contenders include Rep Richard Hudson, former Rep Patrick McHenry, Lara Trump, RNC Chair Michael Whatley, Rep Pat Harrigan, and Rep Addison McDowell.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Rep Richard Hudson<\/h2>\n<p>US Representative for North Carolina&rsquo;s 9th District (2013&ndash;present), born November 4, 1971, in Franklin, Virginia, and a Charlotte resident since childhood. A UNC-Charlotte graduate, Hudson served as district director for Rep Robin Hayes and chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee (2023&ndash;2026).&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hudson&rsquo;s re-election announcement for his House seat in 2026 suggested he&rsquo;s not currently eyeing Tillis&rsquo;s seat, but reports indicate that he might change his mind.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Former Rep Patrick McHenry<\/h2>\n<div class=\"internal-linking-related-contents\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/12-weeks-jail-for-school-it-support-technician-who-took-upskirt-videos-of-teachers\/\" class=\"template-1\"><span class=\"cta\">News :<\/span><span class=\"postTitle\">&lt;div&gt;12 weeks' jail for school IT support technician who took upskirt videos of teachers&lt;\/div&gt;<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>Served as US Representative for North Carolina&rsquo;s 10th District (2005&ndash;2025), born October 22, 1975. McHenry chaired the House Financial Services Committee (2023&ndash;2025) and briefly acted as Speaker pro tempore in 2023 after Kevin McCarthy&rsquo;s ousting. He retired in 2025, citing family priorities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>McHenry&rsquo;s decade-long tenure and interim Speaker role give him name recognition, but no formal Senate candidacy has been announced.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Lara Trump<\/h2>\n<p>Former RNC co-chair (2024&ndash;2025), born October 12, 1982, in Wilmington, NC, and daughter-in-law of Donald Trump. A Victory Insights poll (November 2024) showed her leading Tillis 65% to 11% in a hypothetical primary.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>RNC Chair Michael Whatley<\/h2>\n<p>RNC chairman since March 2024, born in Watauga County, NC. He led the North Carolina GOP (2019&ndash;2024) and served as RNC general counsel, backing Trump&rsquo;s 2020 election fraud claims.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Rep Pat Harrigan<\/h2>\n<p>US Representative for North Carolina&rsquo;s 10th District (2025&ndash;present), a former Green Beret and firearms manufacturer, born in 1979. He won McHenry&rsquo;s open seat in 2024.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Rep Addison McDowell<\/h2>\n<p>US Representative for North Carolina&rsquo;s 6th District (2025&ndash;present), a political newcomer and former aide to Rep Richard Hudson and Sen Ted Budd. Trump-endorsed, he won an open seat in 2024.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"internal-linking-related-contents\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/migrant-acquitted-in-first-trial-over-us-border-military-zones\/\" class=\"template-1\"><span class=\"cta\">News :<\/span><span class=\"postTitle\">Migrant acquitted in first trial over US border military zones<\/span><\/a><\/div><p><sub><\/sub><\/p>\n<div>Pat Harrigan, Michael Whatley, Lara Trump: Republicans in run to fill Thom Tillis&rsquo; North Carolina seat<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Sunday he will not seek reelection. This comes a day after he opposed President Donald Trump&rsquo;s Big Beautiful Bill, leading to the president threatening him about the election next year. With Tillis&rsquo; seat vacated next year, several potential replacements names have surfaced, including Trump&rsquo;s daughter-in-law Lara.&nbsp; Pat&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/pat-harrigan-michael-whatley-lara-trump-republicans-in-run-to-fill-thom-tillis-north-carolina-seat\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Pat Harrigan, Michael Whatley, Lara Trump: Republicans in run to fill Thom Tillis&#8217; North Carolina seat&rdquo;<\/span> &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}