Lara Trump could replace Thom Tillis. But does she really want to?

Telegraph

30-06-2025

Donald Trump has a line he likes to use on Lara Trump.
She's the only person he knows who has twice had the chance to be a senator, and has twice passed it up, according to her own telling of the story.
Now she has a third opportunity.
After Thom Tillis, the Republican senator for North Carolina, announced he would not be running for re-election after clashing with the president over his 'big, beautiful bill'.
'How many times do you get the chance to be a senator?' said a source who knows the family, and confirmed that Mrs Trump is seriously considering a run. 'You can't really turn it down a third time.'
In the past she has said her young family comes first, opting out of running for the Senate in North Carolina in 2022 and ruling herself out of taking Florida's vacant seat last year when Marco Rubio became Donald Trump's secretary of state.
But as a North Carolina native, who knows the issues and rivalries that drive state politics, and with the ear of a president at the peak of his powers she may not get a better opportunity.
'There's a genuine feeling that she's one of us,' said Jonathan Felts, a Republican consultant in the state. 'That, combined with the 100 per cent name recognition and the ability to raise money, that's a nice advantage.'
There are other likely contenders. Michael Whatley, former party chairman, and Congressman Pat Harrigan are among a field of possible candidates weighing their options.
The state is a keenly contested battleground. Mr Trump may have taken it three times and Republicans hold the Senate seats, but it has a Democratic governor and the party sees it as a must-win opportunity if they are to flip the upper chamber to their control.
Mrs Trump, 42, has yet to discuss her plans.
'I don't think she gets into it if she can't win,' said Mr Felts. 'But it's hers if she wants it.'
Mrs Trump spent her early life in North Carolina. She was born in Wilmington, and was educated at a local high school before studying communications at North Carolina State University.
She married Mr Trump's second son Eric in 2014, and entered politics as an adviser to her father-in-law's 2016 presidential campaign.
Her first potential shot at the Senate came in 2021 when one of North Carolina's seats opened up.
'It would be an incredible thing. It's my home state, a state I love so much, and look, I think we need some strong Republicans in Washington DC. We had a great run with the Senate and the House this go-round, but you know, let's see what happens,' she told Fox News in 2022.
Eventually she decided against running.
Since then her political star has only grown. She served as co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, driving fundraising efforts during the 2024 election, silencing doubters who wondered if she only got the job because of her second name.
But again, at the end of last year, she announced she did not want to be considered for Mr Rubio's vacant seat in Florida.
She explained that her brother and sister-in-law, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, had warned her of the pressures facing a young family in Washington.
'It was tough on them personally, but it was really tough on their family,' she told Time magazine earlier this year.
'Even if I decided to move my whole family, dogs and all, up to Washington DC, I still think that it probably would have been a big challenge for my kids and for us as a whole.'
Her son Luke is seven and daughter Carolina is five, and the family live most of the year in Jupiter, Florida, about a 30-minute drive from the president's 'winter White House' of Mar-a-Lago, in West Palm Beach.
The seat in North Carolina is available after Mr Tillis, seen as a centrist, announced that he would not be seeking re-election. Mr Trump had threatened to back any Republican who challenged him next year in revenge for the way the senator voted against his signature domestic policy bill.
However, her name has been in the mix for months. Victory Insights, a polling firm, tested her in a field of Republicans for the party nomination.
It found that she would have demolished Mr Tillis in a hypothetical Republican primary race, winning almost 65 per cent of the vote to his 11 per cent.
Although she would trail the strongest possible Democratic candidate in the election itself, she could turn out 'low-propensity' Trump supporters
'To our knowledge, Lara Trump has not publicly expressed any interest in running for this seat, but if she does, she could be a very formidable candidate, both in the primary election and the general election,' the pollsters concluded.
Trump loyalists are delighted at the prospect of having her in the Senate. At present the party holds a 53 to 47 majority, which means it cannot afford to lose more than two votes on any issue.
'With this narrow Senate majority any single member can have a big impact as far as holding up legislation or being an impediment to the advancement of the Maga agenda,' said Michael Johns. 'And I think she would be reliable, and then on that basis alone, I think she becomes an appealing candidate.'