A member of the House Republican leadership’s team has bowed out of reelection after his North Carolina seat was redistricted and effectively drawn out of existence.
In his announcement Monday, Rep. Mark Walker, 50, said the redrawn North Carolina congressional map led him to eye a Senate bid in 2022. To stay in the House next year, Walker would have had to challenge a colleague in a GOP primary.
“We will take a look at the 2022 Senate race, and we are thankful to have President Trump’s support,” said Walker, vice chairman of the House Republican Conference and a past chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee. “For 2020, our focus will be on helping our candidates for president, Senate, and governor be successful.”
President Trump last week told Walker he would back a senatorial campaign if he waits for Sen. Richard Burr, 64, to retire in 2022, or if he decides to run for any other North Carolina statewide office. Walker openly mulled a primary challenge to Sen. Thom Tillis, 59, whom many considered to be vulnerable after he teamed up with Senate Democrats in February to block Trump’s emergency declaration for border security. Walker in June opted against challenging him next year.
Walker has represented North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District since 2015 in the north central portion of the state and bordering Virginia. Walker, a Baptist pastor, rose quickly through the GOP ranks when his party held the majority for his first two terms and then in the minority after the 2018 Democratic wave.
But the state’s Republican-dominated legislature was forced to redraw his district after a ruling from a panel of three state judges. The district is now heavily Democratic and almost impossible for the conservative to flip.
The new political map, which will go into effect next year, claimed another member of the House GOP earlier this month when Rep. George Holding, 51, announced his retirement. Walker makes the 20th House Republican set to depart Congress after the next cycle without running for another office.
