Thom Tillis

Thomas Roland Tillis ( TIL-iss, born August 30, 1960) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the senior United States senator from North Carolina since 2015. From 2007 to 2015, Tillis served in the North Carolina House of Representatives, of which he was speaker from 2011 to 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party. Tillis was first elected to the United States Senate in 2014, defeating Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan, and was reelected in 2020. He became the state's senior U.S. senator when Richard Burr retired in 2023. Tillis serves on the Senate Security and Cooperation in Europe; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Finance; Judiciary; and Veterans' Affairs Committees. He chairs the Subcommittee on Personnel (Senate Armed Services Committee); the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property (Senate Judiciary Committee); and the Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight (Senate Finance Committee). A moderate Republican, Tillis has voted for proposals such as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which provided funding to states for red flag laws, and the Respect for Marriage Act, which repealed the Defense of Marriage Act. He supports a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and initially opposed President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration to divert funding to a border wall. On June 29, 2025, Tillis announced that he would not seek reelection to a third term in 2026.