Mark Meadows Says He Won’t Run for Senate in 2022, ‘No Plans, No Intentions’

RALEIGH – The 2020 elections aren’t even fully resolved yet, and the deck is already being shuffled for 2022. Much attention is being paid to the U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina which is expected to be up for grabs in 2022 upon the expected retirement of Sen. Richard Burr (R).

That has led to a lot of speculation about which Republicans may make a run for it; but White House Chief of Staff, former congressman, and founder of the House Freedom Caucus is saying, ‘Count me out.’

Meadows, popular among Republicans when he gave up his House seat, has been a regular mention for possible candidates in the statewide race. In a call with the News & Observer, though, he said he has no such intentions:

“I love the people of North Carolina. But I not only have no plans, I have no intentions to run for the Senate in 2022,” Meadows said in a phone call.

“I’ve had a number of people talk about running for that seat, if indeed Sen. Burr retires. My conversations have included some of the sitting House members as well as Lara Trump, and, to my knowledge, no one’s made a definitive decision on whether to toss their hat in the ring or not. But in terms of my hat, it won’t be in the ring.”

The New York Times ran a piece on Lara Trump’s reported interest in that seat just this week. Others long mentioned as possible candidates have been Congressman Mark Walker, Congressman Richard Hudson, and former Governor Pat McCrory.

With Meadows out for 2022 — perhaps he’ll be busy with a second Trump administration? — the deck is cleared to some degree. Being the chief of staff to President Donald Trump, Meadows declaration may clear more room for the possible candidacy of Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law and a Wilmington native.

Lara Trump reportedly polled 30 points ahead of other potential candidates in initial polling conducted by the Club for Growth.