The GOP's chances of keeping a crucial U.S. Senate seat in Republican hands next year could be slim to none if the party continues its pattern of nominating extremist candidates.

That's according to one former Republican staffer, who told MSNBC host Chris Jansing that his party may very well lose North Carolina's U.S. Senate election in the 2026 midterms if it doesn't focus on candidate quality. Brendan Buck – who was a staffer to former House Speakers John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) – said that the retirement of Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) could tip the scales in Democrats' favor depending on who wins next year's Republican primary.

"The question is, are we going to learn our lesson? I mean, the country is littered with failed Republican Senate candidates," Buck said. "Republicans should have like 57, 58 seats right now. In places like Georgia, where I'm from, you have two Democratic senators. In Arizona, you have two Democratic senators, because we keep nominating people who can't win general elections."

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On Wednesday, Tillis – who announced he was not running for a third term after coming out against President Donald Trump's massive tax and spending law – did a wide-ranging interview with CNN and grave his frank assessment of the GOP's political future throughout the remainder of Trump's second term. He notably said that if North Carolina Republicans ended up nominating former Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson (R) to replace him, they would lose to Democratic candidate.

"There's no way if he became the nominee in North Carolina I could possibly support him," Tillis said of Robinson. "Of course, I wouldn't support the Democrat nominee. I would just have to take a pass ... Our state is very difficult for Republicans to win. In both cases i've won by fewer than two points. So they need to be really smart about the name on the ballot and the profile on the ballot. to have an opportunity to win."

Buck piled on Tillis' comments, saying that the nomination of Robinson – who once referred to himself as a "Black Nazi" on an online message board – in last year's gubernatorial election in the Tar Heel State amounted to a "blown governorship." The former Republican staffer lamented that Trump singled out Tillis as a target of his wrath, arguing that the president ended up making it harder for his party to keep its U.S. Senate majority.

"North Carolina? Yeah, that's a tough seat to keep. And it was why [Trump] was so dumb to chase Tillis out," Buck said. "Tillis might have stepped down anyway, but Donald Trump going after one of your most vulnerable sitting senators who's up for reelection ... shows that he plays off emotion more than any strategic thinking."

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Watch Buck's segment below, or by clicking this link.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

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