Tim Moore won’t seek reelection as NC House speaker

House Speaker Tim Moore does not plan to run again for his leadership position in the House.

Rep. Jason Saine told The News & Observer Friday morning that Moore made that announcement to the House GOP Caucus.

Saine’s statement came as part of an interview about allegations aired in a lawsuit that accused Moore of breaking up a local elected official’s marriage by trading sex for political gain.

Even before both sides of the lawsuit said it had been “resolved,” Saine said the caucus hadn’t been too concerned about the suit because they knew Moore wouldn’t be speaker again. He said there’s been little discussion of it.

“You know, the speaker has announced this is his last time seeking to run for speaker,” Saine said, “so I don’t think anybody’s sitting here going, ‘Well, you know, keeping him around is going to be all that problematic,’ because we know he’s leaving.”

Another House Republican told The N&O following publication of this article that Moore told members Wednesday he would not be speaker next term, and that he had made similar comments previously.

Moore began a record fifth two-year term as speaker in January. His office confirmed Friday that Moore has been saying for months he would not run again for speaker for the 2025 and 2026 legislative session and that he’s still determining what comes next for himself.

There has been speculation about whether Moore would run for Congress to represent his community in Kings Mountain just west of Charlotte.

State legislators are set to redraw the congressional districts sometime this fall, and one of the lawmakers who is most vulnerable to losing a favorable district is Rep. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat from Charlotte.

Many believed Moore would run in that area last year, until former Rep. Madison Cawthorn said he would run there instead. Moore announced he would not run for Congress almost immediately after Cawthorn’s statement, although the map would later be changed, and Cawthorn would return to a district farther west where he ended up losing his reelection bid.

Rumblings about a congressional run seemed to have dissipated following the lawsuit filed by Scott Lassiter. Moore confirmed his relationship with Jamie Liles Lassiter, which he considered on-again, off-again since 2019, but denied the allegations of breaking up the marriage and misusing his position as speaker.