RALEIGH – News broke Monday that Senator Thom Tillis’ primary challenger, Garland Tucker, is dropping out of the race. The surprising development comes as Tucker gained traction against the least popular sitting U.S. Senator in the nation.
Confirmed: Garland Tucker will leave #ncpol’s #ncsen race. He’s calling people today with the news, formal announcement to come.
— Travis Fain (@TravisFain) December 2, 2019
Tucker was scheduled to speak at an event in Wake County Monday evening.
A retired business man from Raleigh, Tucker has already poured about $1 million into his campaign against Tillis, and stood to have a good shot at defeating the woefully unpopular incumbent. One could reasonably speculate that impending campaign turns, such as another high profile entry into the race, or extenuating circumstances out of his control have lead to the sudden decision to withdraw. With that withdrawal, Tillis still has one active primary opponent in Sandy Smith.
We’ll bring you more from the Tucker campaign once formal announcements have been made.