Senator Thom Tillis, a man with the backbone of a squid and zealous supporter of President Definitely No Quid Pro Quo Donald Trump, has the lowest approval ratings of any sitting member of Congress, according to a poll from Morning Consult, which could put his 2020 reelection bid in trouble.

Photo courtesy of the N.C. General Assembly U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

Tillis has a mere 33 percent approval rate, according to the survey, with another 30 percent undecided and 38 percent disapproving of him.

Tillis is one of several Republican senators polling precariously in swing states, putting Senator Mitch McConnell's trusty GOP majority in that chamber in jeopardy (McConnell isn't polling to hot either, with a 50 percent disapproval rate).

The Tillis campaign raised $1.2 million in the third quarter, which is about as much as Republican challenger Garland Tucker, a Raleigh businessman, has committed of his own funds to beating Tillis in the primary.

If Tillis does make it through the primary, his odds of winning reelection look even bleaker, according to a September poll that showed Tillis trailing Democrat Cal Cunningham by two points, 45-43.

"Cunningham wasn’t the Democrats’ top recruit, but this race is turning more into a referendum on Tillis. If Cunningham wins the nomination and runs a competent race, Tillis will face major hurdles in winning a second term," reports Josh Kraushaar for The National Journal.

Other Democrats vying for the seat in the primary include State Senator Erica Smith and Mecklenberg County Commissioner Trevor Fuller.

In the grand scheme of things, if Tillis loses, Democrats will only need to net another three seats to take control of the Senate and actually stand up to the Criminal-in-Chief (assuming he gets another term as well.)

"In a normal political environment, Republicans would have good reason to be confident they could win some of these hotly contested races," Kraushaar writes. "But given the trajectory of Trump’s presidency and the trend lines in the battlegrounds, Republicans don’t have much room for error. Right now, control of the Senate past 2020 looks awfully close to a toss-up with over a year until the election."

Good luck, Thom.

ltauss@indyweek.com.

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