Raleigh – Senator Tillis’ unique weakness with voters of all political stripes and the lasting damage he suffered from a nasty primary fight has opened the door for yet another challenge from a conservative Republican, underscoring that Senator Tillis’ issues start and end with one person: Senator Tillis.

According to multiple reports overnight, Representative Mark Walker is “actively considering a primary campaign” against Senator Tillis after court-mandated redistricting. The main reason Walker is exploring a bid is because Senator Tillis has repeatedly shown himself to be a weak, flip-flopping Washington politician, someone who has, in the words of Mark Walker himself, “their fingers in the political winds” and who nonpartisan analysts have noted “voters of all ideological stripes simply don’t trust.”

The past year has caused lasting damage to Tillis:

• Multiple non-partisan analysts have moved his race to “Toss Up” because Tillis’ “personal favorability numbers are not good,” he has an “image problem” with voters, and is “embracing President Donald Trump after getting crosswise with the president.”

• He “flips like a fish on a dock” on issue after issue, earning him scathing editorials from across the state, a “chorus of boos” at two Trump rallies, and outcry from voters asking “How can we trust you?”

• He was “forced… to spend money early” and “announced his own $2.2 million advertising campaign earlier this fall.” Tillis has even “rescheduled” a “significant” buy he has previously canceled.

• He has “has the lowest approval rating (33 percent) of any sitting senator.”

Add it all up and it’s clear that Senator Tillis has caused himself lasting damage that has hobbled his reelection campaign and will follow him into the general. That’s because Senator Tillis’ issues start and end with one person: Senator Tillis.

Read more about the last damage Tillis caused himself over the last year:

• Charlotte Observer: Editorial: Which Thom Tillis will we get now? We have a hunch

• News & Observer: Tillis votes again with Trump on border emergency declaration, despite NC military cuts

• Inside Elections: 2020 Senate Overview (Oct. 11, 2019): North Carolina

• Cook Political Report: Tillis Moves to Lean Republican

• Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: The Senate: Ratings Changes and the Shadow of Impeachment

• Fayetteville Observer: Editorial: Tillis did not stand up to Trump for state’s military funding

• Charlotte Observer: Editorial: Thom Tillis’ terrible, no good and totally predictable bad day

• Greensboro News & Record: Editorial: Our Opinion: Robbing Peter to pay for a wall

• News & Observer: Editorial: Thom Tillis deserts himself for Trump

• CBC: Editorial: Sen. Tillis delivers flip-flop for the ages

• Fayetteville Observer: Editorial: Tillis performs an Olympic gold flip-flop

• WFAE: Column: For Thom Tillis, This Was Not A Profile In Courage

• PBS NewsHour: Senator Tillis “Caved like a $4 Suitcase”

• WFAE: NC Farmers Tell Tillis, Agriculture Secretary That Trade War Is Costing Them

• Spectrum News: Tillis Defends Tariffs as Farmers Pay the Price

• WLOS: “As farmers take the hit for president trump’s tariff policies, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis is defending those policies.”

• Charlotte Observer: With Obamacare on trial, Democrats slam Sen. Thom Tillis over health care

• ABC11: Some North Carolinians call on Senator Tillis to take stand against ACA lawsuit

• News & Observer: VIDEO: Democrats call for Sen. Tillis to take stand against ACA lawsuit

• WBTV: “US Sen. Thom Tillis just took the stage to a chorus of boos here at this Trump rally…”

 

• GOP voters: “Don’t like him,” “he’s a fair-weather friend,” “it’s whatever is good for him”

• GOP activist: “A snake don’t turn into a puppy just because he puts a flea collar on.”

• The Hill: Warning signs flash for Tillis in North Carolina

• National Journal: Tillis “has the lowest approval rating (33 percent) of any sitting senator.”