Thom Tillis in Politico.com

On Civil Rights: Supports eparations as a bipartisan process

It was Tillis himself who first proposed the bill to protect Mueller in a conversation with Coons last summer, an important bipartisan partnership that's survived tough battles over taxes and health care.

Sen.Coons (D-DE) was struck by Tillis' fight for reparations for black victims of a North Carolina eugenics program. And Tillis was impressed that Coons was willing to fend off Democrats who wanted to pile on to the special counsel bill and turn it into a partisan attack on Trump. "He was pretty clear," Coons said, recalling how Tillis threatened to drop his support unless each new Democratic co-sponsor was matched by a Republican.

On Education: Oppose Common Core; eliminate U.S. Department of Education

All four candidates said they oppose Common Core education standards. Brannon said he believe in no federal and state education standards. "Common Core became law under Thom's watch," he said. "[It] destroyed education with the Department of Education."

Tillis said he opposes Common Core and he identified the U.S. Education Department when asked to identify a federal cabinet agency he would eliminate. "We existed for more than a century without one," said Tillis, offering a nuanced explanation. "That's the first department I'd look at...At some point, I'd wonder whether or not it needs to exist in its current form."

On Energy & Oil: Climate change is not an established fact

"We're all conservatives," Tillis said; "You have conservative choices in this primary." While mostly playing it safe, Tillis staked out a series of positions on the right that could hurt him in the general election: agreeing with the other three candidates on stage that climate change is not an established fact, and opposing a federal minimum wage.

When asked if the mentally ill should be able to own guns, Brannon suggested that people with PTSD and other forms of temporary mental illness should. Tillis responded, "Mr. Brannon just said yes to your question, which I think is irresponsible," he said. "You can't put a gun in the hands of someone who represents a danger to themselves or society. Folks, this is being a practical conservative.

On Government Reform: Protect Russia probe special prosecutor from getting fired

Tillis doesn't think Trump will ultimately fire Mueller even as the president rages over the expanding Russia probe. But he has an impassioned response for his conservative critics nonetheless:

"Courage is when you know you're going to do something that's going to anger your base," Tillis said in an interview. "The same people who would criticize me for filing this bill would be absolutely angry if I wasn't pounding the table for this bill if we were dealing with Hillary Clinton," he argued. "So spare me your righteous indignation."

On Health Care: Voting for ObamaCare is a fire-able offense

10 things to know about Thom Tillis:
• Not born in North Carolina. Tillis was actually born in Jacksonville FL, and moved 18 times before graduating high school. He didn't settle in N.C. until 1998.
• Played a role in the state constitutional same-sex marriage ban. As speaker, he supported the ban and helped lead the state House to put the amendment on the ballot.
• Said "proudest moment" was support from a pro-life group, National Right to Life: 'More than any organization I can think of, I'm proud that they recognize the work that we've done to save the lives of the unborn."
• Called the Affordable Care Act Sen. Kay Hagan's "fireable offense." An MSNBC commentator asked Tillis what Hagan's "fireable offense" was: "First, her decisive vote on ObamaCare," Tillis said, adding that a big part of his job as Speaker is "cleaning up Kay Hagan's mess when she was sitting in the state Senate."
• Helped draft a major tax reform bill to reduce individual and corporate rates.

On Jobs: Opposes federal minimum wage; but let states decide

On the minimum wage, Brannon said a federal standard is unconstitutional. Tillis responded: "If there's going to be a minimum wage, it's a decision that needs to be made by the states--not the federal government."