Exclusive: Tillis describes moment he decided not to run again

• "There was just a moment when I was having a discussion with the president," Tillis told Axios' Stef Kight at an Axios News Shapers event Wednesday. "I felt so strongly about what we needed to change in the bill with respect to Medicaid that I needed to take off the table that my election prospects would have any relationship with the extent to which I was going to stand down or otherwise change my position."
• "So I thought it was a good time just to tell the president that he should start looking for a replacement," he added, in his first interview before a live audience since announcing his retirement.
• Tillis ultimately voted against the bill.

Catch up quick: Tillis faced a brutal fight to keep his seat, both in the general election and with the potential of Trump-backed primary challengers.

• "I'm not the happy warrior type that would just run for the sake of running," he said. "I would only run if I was convinced that there was a path."
• He was first elected to the Senate in 2014.