Thom Tillis

Democratic Platform

Democrats support progressive taxation, with higher rates on top earners and corporations to fund public investment. The party favors raising the minimum wage, strengthening unions, and expanding worker protections. Democrats generally support government investment in infrastructure, education, and social programs as drivers of broad economic growth.

Thom Tillis

Senator Tillis supports lower taxes across income levels and voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017), which reduced individual and corporate tax rates. He supports deregulation and market-based policies as the primary drivers of economic growth and job creation, and opposes tax increases on businesses or investment.Source →

Republican Platform

Republicans favor lower taxes across income levels, with particular emphasis on cutting corporate and capital gains taxes to stimulate investment and job creation. The party supports deregulation, reduced government spending, and free market solutions over federal programs as the primary engine of prosperity.

Democratic Platform

Democrats support expanding access to affordable healthcare, including protecting the Affordable Care Act and moving toward a public option or expanded Medicare coverage. The party broadly favors government negotiation of prescription drug prices and opposes removing protections for pre-existing conditions.

Thom Tillis

Senator Tillis has generally opposed the Affordable Care Act and favors market-based healthcare reforms, including expanding health savings accounts, allowing insurance competition across state lines, and reducing federal coverage mandates. He has engaged on specific issues like prescription drug pricing, where he has supported targeted reforms.Source →

Republican Platform

Republicans have generally sought to repeal or significantly reform the Affordable Care Act, favoring market-based solutions. The party supports expanding health savings accounts, increasing competition among insurers across state lines, and reducing federal mandates on coverage requirements.

Democratic Platform

Democrats generally support pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including DACA recipients, and favor comprehensive immigration reform. The party supports increased resources for legal immigration processing and a humanitarian approach to asylum seekers at the border.

Thom Tillis

Senator Tillis has taken a notably bipartisan approach to immigration relative to many in his party, co-sponsoring the DREAM Act and participating in the 2024 bipartisan border security negotiations. He supports a combination of strong border enforcement measures and legal pathways for long-term residents with community ties. The border security bill ultimately did not pass.Source →

Republican Platform

Republicans prioritize border security and strict enforcement of existing immigration law. The party broadly supports completing physical border barriers, ending policies they view as incentivizing illegal entry, and reforming legal immigration to favor applicants with marketable skills.

Democratic Platform

Democrats favor robust federal investment in public K-12 education and higher education, along with policies to reduce or eliminate student loan debt. The party generally opposes using public funds for private school vouchers and supports universal pre-K and affordable childcare.

Thom Tillis

Senator Tillis supports school choice, parental rights in education, and reducing federal mandates on state and local school curricula. He supports expanding options for families, including charter schools, and believes local communities should have primary authority over how children are educated.Source →

Republican Platform

Republicans support school choice, including voucher programs for private and religious schools, and local control over curriculum decisions. The party generally opposes federal education mandates and broadly supports parental rights in schooling. Many Republicans oppose student loan forgiveness as unfair to borrowers who repaid their loans.

Democratic Platform

Democrats broadly support stricter gun safety measures, including universal background checks, red flag laws, and restrictions on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines. The party frames these regulations as consistent with the Second Amendment and necessary to reduce mass shootings.

Thom Tillis

Senator Tillis was one of a small group of Senate Republicans who voted for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (2022), which he helped negotiate. He generally supports Second Amendment rights and opposes broad new gun restrictions, but was willing to support targeted measures including enhanced background checks for younger buyers and crisis intervention funding.Source →

Republican Platform

Republicans strongly defend Second Amendment rights and generally oppose new gun control legislation, arguing that existing laws should be enforced more effectively. The party emphasizes mental health intervention, the right to self-defense, and opposes what they view as infringement on law-abiding gun owners.

Democratic Platform

Democrats view climate change as an urgent crisis requiring immediate government action. The party supports transitioning to clean energy through federal investment and regulation, reducing carbon emissions across the economy, and meeting international climate commitments. Democrats generally oppose expanding fossil fuel development on public lands.

Thom Tillis

Senator Tillis supports an all-of-the-above energy approach, including domestic oil, gas, and renewable development. He opposes regulations he views as harmful to North Carolina businesses and energy consumers, and is generally skeptical of aggressive federal climate mandates that he argues raise energy costs.Source →

Republican Platform

Republicans emphasize American energy independence through domestic production of oil, gas, and coal alongside renewable development. Many in the party are skeptical of aggressive climate regulations they argue harm economic growth and jobs. Republicans generally prefer market-based energy solutions over government mandates and oppose restrictions that raise energy costs for families.

Democratic Platform

Democrats generally support a multilateral approach to foreign policy, emphasizing alliances, international institutions, and diplomacy as the first line of engagement. The party broadly supports maintaining NATO commitments, providing aid to democratic allies, and engaging international bodies to address shared challenges.

Thom Tillis

Senator Tillis is among the more hawkish members of the Senate Republican caucus on foreign policy. He has been a consistent and vocal supporter of U.S. aid to Ukraine, strong NATO commitments, and maintaining U.S. security relationships with allies, sometimes breaking with his party on these issues.Source →

Republican Platform

Republicans emphasize American sovereignty, a strong military as a deterrent, and bilateral relationships over multilateral institutions. The party broadly supports robust defense spending and is skeptical of international agreements they view as constraining American action or requiring open-ended foreign commitments.

Democratic Platform

Democrats oppose cuts to Social Security or Medicare benefits and support expanding both programs. The party generally favors raising the Social Security payroll tax cap on high earners to ensure long-term solvency and opposes any form of privatization.

Thom Tillis

Senator Tillis has expressed concern about Social Security's long-term fiscal trajectory and has discussed the need for structural reforms to ensure the program's solvency for future generations, including potential adjustments to retirement age for younger workers. He opposes tax increases as the primary solution.Source →

Republican Platform

Republicans support reforming Social Security and Medicare to ensure long-term fiscal solvency, which some in the party argue requires adjusting benefits or eligibility ages. The party opposes tax increases to fund the programs and some members have supported personal investment account options.

Democratic Platform

Democrats broadly support criminal justice reform, including reducing mandatory minimum sentences, addressing racial disparities in policing and incarceration, and investing in community-based alternatives. The party generally supports police accountability measures and evidence-based approaches to reducing recidivism.

Thom Tillis

Senator Tillis generally takes a law-and-order approach to criminal justice and supports law enforcement. He was a co-author of the First Step Act (2018), a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill that reduced sentences for certain nonviolent federal offenses and expanded prisoner reentry programming.Source →

Republican Platform

Republicans emphasize law and order, strong support for law enforcement, and tough penalties for crime. The party generally opposes reducing mandatory minimum sentences for violent offenses and supports prosecutors pursuing strong sentences. Republicans broadly oppose policies they view as undermining police authority or creating leniency for criminals.