Title: U.S. Senator (R-NC), since 2015 Term ends: January 2027; announced June 29, 2025 that he will not seek re-election (Ballotpedia) Next voter decision: the open seat: Roy Cooper (D) vs Michael Whatley (R), plus Green, Libertarian, and independent candidates, November 3, 2026 (Ballotpedia)
Record on these issues
- The sanctuary fight. In late April 2025 Tillis posted a map labeling nine counties, Buncombe included, “sanctuary jurisdictions” and promised legislation “to hold these sanctuary jurisdictions accountable.” DHS published its own list May 29, pulled it days later, and dropped Buncombe from an August 5 revision. Sheriff Quentin Miller called the label “blatantly incorrect”: “There is not a single BSCO policy that would in any way limit our cooperation with federal law enforcement or immigration services,” noting 15 ICE detainers processed under HB 10. Tillis’s office answered that Miller “has bragged as recently as this February that he has ‘repeatedly spoken out against cooperation with ICE’” (WLOS · BPR · Mountain Xpress).
- Police technology money. Introduced the VICTIM Act to create a DOJ grant program for clearance-rate technology (tillis.senate.gov). No statement by Tillis naming Flock, plate readers, or Fusus has been found.
- The successor race. Whatley has made sheriff-ICE cooperation central, blaming Cooper’s vetoes of earlier cooperation bills; no plate-reader position has been found for either candidate (Fox News).
Region: Federal · Last updated: Aug 22, 2026