Months after saying she “would seriously consider” taking over Marco Rubio’s Florida Senate seat, only to instead jump over to Fox News to host a weekend show, Lara Trump is now “taking a strong look” at running for Senate from North Carolina after incumbent Republican Thom Tillis announced he was not seeking re-election.
Amid a falling out with President Donald Trump over the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” which Tillis says he opposes due to the massive cuts in Medicaid, the conservative lawmaker announced he would be stepping down next year rather than seek another term.
“I respect President Trump, I support the majority of his agenda, but I don't bow to anybody when the people of North Carolina are at risk and this bill puts them at risk,” Tillis told The Independent.
With the president celebrating the pending retirement of Tillis, who has long faced anger from MAGA for his attempts at bipartisanship and occasional criticisms of fellow Republicans, speculation quickly arose over who would run for the soon-to-be open seat. And the president’s daughter-in-law appears to be front of the line on the Republican side.
Lara Trump, who served as the Republican National Committee co-chair through the 2024 election, “is ‘taking a strong look’ at the race and will have the family’s support if she chooses to run,” according to Politico. NOTUS’ Reese Gorman additionally stated that a source told him she is “seriously considering a bid” for Tillis’ seat.
NBC News’ Vaughn Hilyard also reported that a source close to the Trump family said that the current Fox News host is “strongly considering jumping in the race,” adding that the odds of her throwing her name in the ring are “as high as one could be considering it.” On top of that, if she decides to run, the source noted the “race will be over before it begins.”
If Lara Trump decided to stay at her cushy Fox News gig rather than run for the Senate, which would entail her having to quit her show and the conservative cable giant releasing her, other GOP hopefuls have been floated as possibilities.
The current RNC Chair Michael Whatley, who previously led North Carolina’s GOP, is seen as a “strong candidate” by the White House. Elsewhere, Reps. Pat Harrigan and Richard Hudson are also being propped up by Republicans as “solid” choices.
Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping to convince popular former Gov. Roy Cooper to jump into the race. He is expected to make an announcement on his intentions later this summer. Ex-Congressman Wiley Nickel has already launched his campaign for the Democratic nomination.
Lara Trump has made no secret of her ambitions for political office over the years. After Richard Burr revealed in 2021 that he would not seek re-election for his North Carolina Senate seat, she was reportedly eyeing a run to succeed the moderate Republican. Burr had run afoul Trump loyalists after he was one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict the president in his impeachment trial over the January 6 Capitol attack.
“It would be an incredible thing. It’s my home state, a state I love so much, and look, I think we need some strong Republicans in Washington, D.C. We had a great run with the Senate and the House this go-round, but you know, let’s see what happens,” she told Fox News in 2022.
When it was looking likely that Tillis could step down in 2026, and the MAGA wing of the party considering a primary race against him if he didn’t, Lara Trump’s name was floated for the seat after her father-in-law won the presidential election last November. A poll in December found that she would trounce Tillis in a one-on-one primary for the GOP nomination.
However, after Donald Trump chose Rubio to be his secretary of state, leaving an open Senate seat in Florida to be filled, the president’s daughter-in-law – who had just left her position with the Republican National Committee – was seen as a likely choice. Especially since the president wanted her to replace Rubio.
Instead, she decided she’d rather “shape narratives” than craft legislation and headed over to Fox News, where she had been engaged in negotiations with network chief Suzanne Scott to host her own show. The hiring of Lara Trump came on the heels of the administration hiring roughly two dozen former Fox News staffers and was seen as a way of further tightening the already close relationship between the right-wing network and the president.
With the president irate with Tillis over his non-support for his signature legislation, he spent much of the weekend vowing to back a primary challenger before the senator announced that he would not seek re-election.
“Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis,” Trump groused on Truth Social. “I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America.”
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