Thomas Richard Tillis (born September 22, 1963) is an American politician who served in the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

from the 92nd district as a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

. During his tenure in the state house he served as the Majority Whip. Tillis, who is the brother of

US Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Thom Tillis, received a

GED The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

from the

Florida Department of Education The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) is the state education agency of Florida. It governs public education and manages funding and testing for local educational agencies (school boards). It is headquartered in the Turlington Building (na ...

. He was elected to the state house in Tennessee in the 2016 election and served until he was defeated in the 2020 Republican primary by

Todd Warner Todd Warner (born June 6, 1971) is an American politician. A Republican, he represents District 92 in the Tennessee House of Representatives. Tennessee House of Representatives In January 2021, Warner was one of several current and former Tenn ...

. Tillis served as the Majority Whip from 2018 to until his resignation in 2019, after it was discovered that he was running a Twitter account critical of other Republicans in the state house.

Early life

Thomas Richard Tillis was born on September 22, 1963, to Margie and Thomas Raymond Tillis. His brother, Thom Tillis, was later elected as a

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from North Carolina. He received a

from the

Tennessee House of Representatives

Elections

Tillis ran for the Republican nomination for a seat in the

from the 92nd district in the 2016 election. He defeated Michael Waggoner by forty votes and defeated Democratic nominee Tamra King in the election. In the 2018 election he defeated Billy Spivey in the Republican primary and Democratic nominee C.S. Coffey in the election. Tillis ran for reelection in the 2020 election, but was defeated by

in the Republican primary making him one of four incumbents in the state house to lose renomination.

Tenure

Tillis introduced his first bill in 2017, which attempted to reduce the size of the Tennessee government and it was passed by the state house. During his tenure he served on the Local, State, and Finance, Ways, and Means committees. During the 2018 United States Senate election Tillis filed a complaint to the

United States Office of Special Counsel The United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is a permanent independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency whose basic legislative authority comes from four federal statutes: the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Prot ...

calling for an investigation into Phil Bredesen's campaign treasurer, Virginia Lodge, for appearing in a campaign ad. Tillis' complaint alleged that Lodge, who was a board member of the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

, was in violation of the

Hatch Act The Hatch Act of 1939, An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities, is a United States federal law. Its main provision prohibits civil service employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the president and vice pre ...

by serving as the treasure of Bredesen's campaign while also serving as a federal employee. He stated that being a treasurer was not in violation of the act, but appearing in advertisements was a violation. In 2018, Tillis was selected by the Republican caucus to serve as the Majority Whip of the Tennessee House of Representatives. In August 2019, House Majority Leader William Lamberth and Representative Andy Holt stated that Tillis had admitted to running an account on Twitter which criticized other Republican members of the Tennessee House of Representatives. On August 30, Representative

Jeremy Faison Jeremy Faison is a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives for the Eleventh District and is the Chairman of the House Republican Caucus. He represents all of Cocke County and part of Hamblen and Jefferson counties. Biograp ...

, the chairman of the GOP House caucus, announced in an email that Tillis had stepped down as the Majority Whip. On January 27, 2020, Johnny Garrett was selected to replace Tillis as the Majority Whip.

Electoral history

References

External links

*
Rick Tillis' campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tillis, Rick 1963 births 21st-century American politicians Living people Republican Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives