© 2024 Blue Ridge Public Radio
Blue Ridge Mountains banner background
Your source for information and inspiration in Western North Carolina.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Cunningham And Tillis Fight For A Leg Up in North Carolina U.S. Senate Race

The first debate between candidates for North Carolina's U.S. Senate seat was televised last night. Incumbent Republican Sen. Thom Tillis faced off against Democrat Cal Cunningham.
The first debate between candidates for North Carolina's U.S. Senate seat was televised last night. Incumbent Republican Sen. Thom Tillis faced off against Democrat Cal Cunningham.
The first debate between candidates for North Carolina's U.S. Senate seat was televised last night. Incumbent Republican Sen. Thom Tillis faced off against Democrat Cal Cunningham.
The first debate between candidates for North Carolina's U.S. Senate seat was televised last night. Incumbent Republican Sen. Thom Tillis faced off against Democrat Cal Cunningham.

Incumbent Republican Sen. Thom Tillis and Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham faced off last night in the first of three televised debates. This race is one of the most closely watched in the country as it is considered a true toss up. 

Host Frank Stasio talks with WUNC's capitol bureau chief Jeff Tiberii about the Monday night debate between North Carolina's U.S. Senate candidates Thom Tillis and Cal Cunningham.

If the vote goes to Cunningham, Democrats need to win four additional seats in November to ensure control in the U.S. Senate. Many of the questions in the hour-long debate focused on topics related to the coronavirus pandemic. The two also sparred over systemic racism and each other’s records. Tillis won the seat in 2014 from incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan. Cal Cunningham is a corporate attorney and retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves. Liberatarian Shannon Bray and Constitution Party nominee Kevin Hayes both appear on the ballot, but neither appeared in Monday’s debate. Host Frank Stasio talks with WUNC’s Jeff Tiberii, the capitol bureau chief and host of the “WUNC Politics Podcast,” about his takeaways and what to look out for in the next two debates, which are scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 22 and Thursday, Oct. 1.

Copyright 2020 North Carolina Public Radio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
Kaia Findlay is a producer for The State of Things, WUNC's daily, live talk show. Kaia grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in a household filled with teachers and storytellers. In elementary school, she usually fell asleep listening to recordings of 1950s radio comedy programs. After a semester of writing for her high school newspaper, she decided she hated journalism. While pursuing her bachelor’s in environmental studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, she got talked back into it. Kaia received a master’s degree from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism, where she focused on reporting and science communication. She has published stories with Our State Magazine, Indy Week, and HuffPost. She most recently worked as the manager for a podcast on environmental sustainability and higher education. Her reporting passions include climate and the environment, health and science, food and women’s issues. When not working at WUNC, Kaia goes pebble-wrestling, takes long bike rides, and reads while hammocking.