Garland Tucker drops campaign to challenge Thom Tillis in GOP Senate primary
Raleigh retired businessman Garland Tucker is ending his campaign for the Republican nomination in the U.S. Senate against Sen. Thom Tillis, he announced in a letter to supporters Monday.
Tucker invested more than $1.5 million of his own money to challenge Tillis, who is seeking a second term in 2020. Monday marked the beginning of the 2020 filing period in North Carolina. Tucker, who joined the race in May, opted not to file.
In the letter, Tucker said the campaign needed an additional $2.5 million to finish the primary.
“I cannot continue to fund the campaign personally at the level of the past 7 months; donor contributions during the impeachment process have been insufficient to bridge the gap; and there is no access to national conservative funding. In addition, even aside from the unlikelihood of raising these additional funds, there are real questions as to how effective campaign advertising would be during the impeachment hearings,” he wrote.
The letter cited the attention on the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump as well as Tillis’ role as one of his defenders in the Senate as a reason for Tucker’s decision to end his campaign.
“Impeachment has dramatically sucked the oxygen out of our campaign discussion and greatly curtailed our fundraising ability,” he wrote.
In the letter, Tucker took several shots at Tillis and did not offer an endorsement.
Tucker, 72, earned millions as the chairman and CEO of Triangle Capital Corporation, the last of three companies he founded in Raleigh. Tucker, who grew up in Wilson, retired in 2016. He also authored two books on politics, including one on the 1924 presidential election.
Tucker attacked Tillis in television and radio ads, claiming the senator’s record on immigration and spending in Washington were not what he promised during the 2014 campaign. Tucker donated to Tillis during his 2014 Senate campaign against then-Sen. Kay Hagan.
A recent Fox News poll showed Tillis with a large lead over Tucker and Ayden farmer Sandy Smith. Tillis led the poll with 54% to Tucker’s 11% and Smith’s 4% while 31% answered none or don’t know. It marked a vast improvement for Tillis over an August poll from Public Policy Polling that showed him with a 37-31 lead over Tucker.
Tillis earned a coveted endorsement from Trump in late June and announced a $2.2 million ad buy in September to run through the March 3 primary. Several outside groups, including the U.S. Chamber and Americans For Prosperity Action, were already up with ads touting Tillis’ record.
“Having dropped sharply in the polls, Tillis desperately sought to make the senate race about President Trump — not Tillis. I had hoped the President would stay out of the primary, as customary, but in June he endorsed all incumbent senate Republicans including Tillis. This allowed Tillis to wrap himself in Trump’s endorsement and shift the focus of the senate race away from his own senate voting record,” Tucker’s letter said.
The Tillis campaign did not mention Tucker by name in its statement.
“With our potential primary challenge behind us, it’s now time to turn our attention to building the diverse coalition necessary to defeat whichever radical, liberal nominee the Democrats put forward in March. Senator Tillis and our campaign will do so by continuing to work tirelessly to share with voters across the state his strong record of working with President Trump to make life better for all North Carolinians,” said Tillis for Senate campaign manager Luke Blanchat in a statement.
N.C. Sen. Erica Smith Erica Smith, former state senator Cal Cunningham and Mecklenburg County Commissioner Trevor Fuller are running for the Democratic nomination.
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This story was originally published December 2, 2019 at 2:07 PM with the headline "Garland Tucker drops campaign to challenge Thom Tillis in GOP Senate primary."
