In Blow To Democrats Republican Thom Tillis Wins Re
Democrat Cal Cunningham conceded to Republican Sen. Thom Tillis in the North Carolina race Tuesday, increasing the stakes in the outcomes of Georgia’s Senate races, which appear likely to determine control of the chamber.
NBC News had projected the race as too close to call, but declared Tillis the winner shortly after Cunningham conceded the race. The win gives Republicans 49 seats in the Senate, while Democrats have 48, with two races in Georgia and one in Alaska still outstanding.
I just called Senator Tillis to congratulate him on winning re-election to a second term in the U.S. Senate and wished him and his family the best in their continued service in the months and years ahead,” Cunningham said in a statement. The voters have spoken and I respect their decision.”
“While the results of this election suggest there remain deep political divisions in our state and nation,” he added, “the more complete story of our country lies in what unites us: our faith and sense of confidence in our democracy, our civic values and common humanity, our shared aspiration to care for one another, and our belief that we live in a country that does exceptional things.”
Democrats would need to win two of the three remaining Senate contests to gain control of the chamber with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote.
Tillis didn’t wait for network projections he declared victory after the polls closed on Election Day.
Republican Tillis Keeps Senate Seat In North Carolina
North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis has won reelection to the Senate, defeating Democrat Cal Cunningham after a hard-fought campaign and days of counting ballots.
Republicans now have 50 Senate seats in the next Congress, compared with 48 for Democrats. Control of the chamber will be decided by two January runoffs in Georgia, with Republicans needing to win one more seat for a majority. Democrats would win control if it ends up a 50-50 tie because Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would be the tiebreaker.
The North Carolina campaign was marked in the final weeks by Cunninghams acknowledgment of an extramarital affair and Tillis COVID-19 diagnosis.
Cunningham outraised Tillis this year, but Tillis benefited from the fallout after the Democrat admitted to a recent extramarital relationship with a public relations consultant.
Cunningham conceded the race on Tuesday, saying that the voters have spoken and that it was clear Tillis had won.
Left: Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., asks a question during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, on June 16, 2020. Photo by Tom Williams/Pool via REUTERS
Democrat Cunningham Appears To Lead Republican Tillis In North Carolina: Reuters/ipsos Poll
WASHINGTON – Democratic Senate challenger Cal Cunningham appears to lead incumbent Senator Thom Tillis in North Carolina, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken as the news broke of Tillis’ COVID-19 diagnosis and a scandal involving Cunningham.
Democratic Senator Gary Peters of Michigan leads his Republican challenger businessman John James among likely voters, according to the opinion polls released on Tuesday.
There are about ten competitive U.S. Senate races this year, eight with vulnerable Republican incumbents and two with vulnerable Democrats. To have a majority in the Senate, Democrats need to pick up three seats if the party wins the White House, which gives the vice president a tie-breaking vote, and four if not.
Here are the latest results on three Senate races on which Reuters/Ipsos is polling:
NORTH CAROLINA
* 47% of likely voters polled Sept. 29 to Oct. 6 said they planned to vote for the Democratic challenger, former state Senator Cunningham. Cunningham last week issued a public apology after sending sexually themed text messages to a woman who is not his wife.
* 42% planned to vote for Tillis, with the remaining voters undecided or planning to vote for another candidate. Tillis has tested positive for the coronavirus, and said he would isolate at home for 10 days. The number of undecided voters had risen slightly for the last poll two weeks ago.
* 8% said they had already voted.
MICHIGAN
* 10% said they had already voted.
ARIZONA
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UMGC is one of the largest providers of distance education in the United States. Courses are delivered in traditional classroom settings, as well as online. Even before the advent of online education by way of the World Wide Web, UMGC was a pioneer and offered using its WebTycho interface by way of . UMGC later adopted the use of the Web for connectivity to its online classrooms, as well as using television and correspondence courses to deliver course content.
Tillis Moves To Lean Republican
This post has been updated.
Democrats have their sights set on Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, who is seeking a second term. But, before Tillis can focus on a Democratic challenger, he must fend off a primary to his right from wealthy businessman Garland Tucker and farmer Sandy Smith.
Tillis had spent the lions share of his career in business, holding numerous positions within PriceWaterhouseCoopers and IBM. He was elected to the state House of Representatives in 2006 and served as Speaker before running for the Senate in 2014. He won a three-way primary with 46 percent of the vote and went on to defeat then-Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, 49 percent to 47 percent.
Its not surprising then that Tillis pulled primary opposition. Smith, a farmer, poses less of a threat than Tucker. Tucker retired as chairman and CEO of Triangle Capital in 2016 the company was sold last year for $1 billion. A longtime conservative, Tucker has authored two books, The High Tide of American Conservatism: Davis, Coolidge and the 1924 Election and Conservative Heroes: Fourteen Leaders Who Changed America, from Jefferson to Reagan. Tucker seems to have ample personal resources to put in the race as of June 30, he put $700,000 into the race, which amounted to most of the $1 million he reported. Tillis had nearly $4.4 million in the bank at the end of the second quarter.
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Republicans Close In On Democrats In Michigan North Carolina Senate Races
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Wednesday, 21 Oct 2020
4:21 AM MYT
FILE PHOTO: Local resident Sarah Blanchard marks her ballot while her three-year-old son Parker plays at her feet on the first day of the states in-person early voting for the national elections in Durham, North Carolina, U.S. October 15, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake
WASHINGTON – Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina pulled even with his Democratic challenger, and in Michigan, the Republican candidate for a U.S. Senate seat cut into the Democratic incumbent’s lead, Reuters/Ipsos polls showed on Tuesday.
There are about 12 competitive U.S. Senate races this year, 10 with vulnerable Republican incumbents and two with vulnerable Democrats. To have a majority in the Senate, Democrats need to pick up three seats if the party wins the White House, which gives the vice president a tie-breaking vote, and four if not.
Here are the latest results for three Senate races on which Reuters/Ipsos is polling:
NORTH CAROLINA
* Voting for Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham: 47%
* Voting for Republican Senator Thom Tillis: 47%
* Cunningham led Tillis 46%-42% in the prior week.
* 12% said they had already voted.
MICHIGAN
* Voting for Democratic Senator Gary Peters: 50%
* Voting for Republican challenger John James: 45%
* Peters led James 52%-44% in the prior week.
* 28% said they had already voted.
ARIZONA
* Voting for Democratic challenger and former astronaut Mark Kelly: 52%
* Voting for Republican Senator Martha McSally: 41%
Tillis Colleagues Introduce Bill To Block Democrats Irs Snooping Proposal
WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senator Thom Tillis and his Republican colleagues this week introduced the Prohibiting IRS Financial Surveillance Act, a bill to prevent the Internal Revenue Service from implementing Democrats plan to give the agency access to transaction information of virtually every American.
President Biden and Democrats want the IRS to have full access to the personal financial information of nearly every American with a job so they can audit hardworking middle class Americans and make them foot the bill for their tax and spending spree, said Senator Tillis. I am proud to introduce this legislation to stop this intended IRS overreach and protect the financial privacy of hardworking Americans.
BACKGROUND
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Tillis Scrambles Cunningham Lies Low In Closing Days Of Nc Senate Race
The North Carolina Senate race has not been kind to either candidate down the home stretch.
11/01/2020 07:00 AM EST
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Link Copied
CHARLOTTE, N.C. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is campaigning everywhere. Democrat Cal Cunningham is hard to find.
Both campaigns think thats exactly how they win and potentially secure their party a Senate majority.
The North Carolina Senate race, the most expensive in U.S. history after more than $250 million in spending, has not been kind to either candidate down the home stretch. Tillis was forced into isolation aftercontracting Covid-19. Cunningham voluntarily went into relative isolation afteradmitting to an extramarital affair.
The diverging strategies are on display in the final weekend of a race that could decide control of the Senate. Tillis is barnstorming the state, flanked by a roster of big-name GOP surrogates: Vice President Mike Pence, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. The incumbent senator is joining President Donald Trump at multiple rallies in the state, including one on Sunday and another on Monday.
At a campaign stop with Haley here Saturday morning, about 100 people crowded together outside a local barbecue joint, most of them wearing masks and light jackets in the brisk chill. Tillis knocked Cunningham for not being more visible as voting came to a close.
Democrat Cal Cunningham. | AP Photo/Gerry Broome
Democrats make no apology for the strategy. In fact, they think its working.
Tillis Ekes Out Victory In North Carolina Bolstering Republicans Hold On The Senate
Senator Thom Tillis defeated Cal Cunningham after an expensive and hard-fought race, which was scrambled in the final weeks by revelations that Mr. Cunningham had an extramarital affair.
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Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, narrowly won re-election on Wednesday after a protracted vote count, capitalizing on unexpected party strength in a crucial swing state to defeat a Democrat damaged by late revelations of an extramarital affair.
Mr. Tillis, 60, had been one of Democrats top targets this year, a decidedly unpopular first-term Republican in a fast-growing and increasingly competitive state. But in the campaigns final weeks, he drew a pair of aces in the form of a Supreme Court vacancy and a personal scandal that dogged his opponent, Cal Cunningham.
With the vast majority of votes counted, Mr. Tillis was leading by just under 100,000 votes in an election that drew more voters and political spending than any in the states history. Mr. Tillis took a lead on election night and never lost it, but because of an influx of mail-in ballots, the result was not made official until Wednesday, long after most others were called.
Veterans know we cant trust Cal Cunningham, said an unnamed veteran in one ad run by Mr. Tilliss campaign.
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When Will North Carolina Election Results Be Announced
The short answer is it depends. Polls in North Carolina officially closed at 7:30 p.m. on November 3, with some extensions due to interruptions in voting. Election officials start by tallying early in-person votes and absentee ballots that have been received prior to Election Day. Officials then begin counting votes cast on Election Day. The State Board of Elections hopes to have 97% of the vote counted by Election Night.
County election boards will meet on November 13 to certify votes. From there, the numbers go to the State Board of Elections, which will declare results official on November 24.
Those dates are if everything runs smoothly. Remember, official results can take longer if there’s a recount.
Thom Tillis Went Full Trump Now Hes Dcs Most Vulnerable Republican
Hes perhaps best known for getting lots of money from big pharma, big oil, big banks, and payday lenders, and for pushing their preferred policies.
Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty
Republican Senator Thom Tillis is a loud voice in committee hearings, pushing the Obamagate conspiracy and reading aloud the dictionary definitions of witch hunt and hoax.
But thats not what he talks about at home in North Carolina, running for re-election. His first television ad has him walking through a trailer park recalling his humble roots and pledging to be a fighter for workers, protecting their jobs as the economy recovers.
His family moved around a lot, he was one of six children, and he worked his way through college. Good for him. But hes been in Washington for six years, and whoever put the ad together probably didnt notice Tillis is wearing a $110 Tommy Bahama polo shirt.
Hes trying to reinvent himself right before an election by focusing on his humble roots but he has consistently voted against policies that would help folks move up the economic ladder, move up the education ladder, says Morgan Jackson, a political strategist in Raleigh. Its not just where you came from, its what you do with it.
A second ad, Pay Day, has Tillis walking behind the counter of a restaurant with burgers on the grill reminiscing about his days as a short-order cook and saying that hes fighting for the people forgotten by our politics.
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Foreign Policy And National Defense
Some, including neoconservatives, in the Republican Party support unilateralism on issues of national security, believing in the ability and right of the United States to act without external support in matters of its national defense. In general, Republican thinking on defense and international relations is heavily influenced by the theories of neorealism and realism, characterizing conflicts between nations as struggles between faceless forces of an international structure as opposed to being the result of the ideas and actions of individual leaders. The realist school’s influence shows in Reagan’s “Evil Empire” stance on the Soviet Union and George W. Bush’s Axis of evil stance.
Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, many in the party have supported neoconservative policies with regard to the War on Terror, including the 2001 war in Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The George W. Bush administration took the position that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to unlawful combatants, while other prominent Republicans strongly oppose the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, which they view as torture.
Republicans have frequently advocated for restricting foreign aid as a means of asserting the national security and immigration interests of the United States.
Republican Sen Thom Tillis Defeats Democrat Cal Cunningham In North Carolina
Sen. Thom Tillis has won reelection in North Carolina, defeating Democrat Cal Cunningham and spoiling Democrats hopes of gaining a seat in what has been the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history.
Tillis, 60, delivered a devastating blow to Democrats, who had identified him as a target in their quest to take back the Senate majority. The one-term senator had low approval ratings in North Carolina and was unknown to one-third of the electorate. He had been consistently trailing Cunningham, 47, in the lead-up to November, stymied by President Donald Trumps poor numbers in the state.
Cunningham called Tillis to concede on Tuesday, a week after Election Day. The Associated Press has yet to officially call the race.
The voters have spoken and I respect their decision, Cunningham said in a statement after conceding the election. While the results of this election suggest there remain deep political divisions in our state and nation, the more complete story of our country lies in what unites us: our faith and sense of confidence in our democracy, our civic values and common humanity, our shared aspiration to care for one another, and our belief that we live in a country that does exceptional things.
A late-breaking scandal may have nonetheless helped Tillis to victory.
What followed was likely Tillis biggest break in the election, when texts between Cunningham and a woman in California showed that the Democratic candidate was involved in an extramarital affair.
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An Affair Too Remembered
Most public opinion surveys had Cunningham running ahead of Tillis through the campaign. And Tillis wasunpopular with some Republicans for publicly disagreeing with Republican President Donald Trump on occasion he was even booed at a Trump rally in 2019 and drew serious primary opponent who later dropped out.
But then in early October, news broke that Cunningham, who is married and has children, in the spring and summer had an extra-marital affair with a woman who is married to a wounded Army veteran. The indiscretion took place amid one of the nations most-watched U.S. Senate races.
The news damaged Cunninghams public persona as a family man.
The Tillis campaign quickly capitalized on the news with highly critical advertising and public comments.
Cunningham apologized for his behavior and said he would not discuss it further. This led to a harrowing news conference on Oct. 9 when reporters repeatedly questioned him about the affair and he refused to answer. Following that news conference, Cunningham cut off media access for the rest of the campaign.
The Democrats in general also limited their in-person campaign activities out of concern for the coronavirus pandemic. That may have affected their performance throughout the ballot.
Tillis, after he recovered from COVID-19, resumed campaigning and was far more accessible.
Some Democrats think the affair was a factor in the loss.
I think it played a big role in some quarters, she said.
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