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