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CHARLOTTE They spoke one after another at a tea party meeting at an upscale pub conservative voters and activists vowing to derail Republican Thom Tillis run for U.S. Senate because, as state House speaker, he muscled through a toll road project.

Since the creation of the automobile until this point, there [havent] been toll roads [in North Carolina], conservative activist Chuck Suter said at the meeting, which is an offshoot of the Charlotte Tea Party. We would expect this to come from Democrats.

I dont want to send him to D.C, fumed Mary Amstrong, a businesswoman and Republican voter who regularly attends the weekly meeting at the Dilworth Neighborhood Grille. Based on what [Mr. Tillis] is doing to us in North Carolina, I dont want to give him any more power.

SEE ALSO: Tillis struggles for conservative support in North Carolina Senate bid

The anti-toll road uprising that is frustrating Mr. Tillis run reflects a national movement against tolls, which conservatives decry as the latest big government intrusion. Unfortunately for Mr. Tillis, the uprising in North Carolina is centered in bedroom communities in the Lake Norman region north of Charlotte that includes Mr. Tillis base of support in his state House district.

Mr. Tillis has largely ignored the toll road issue and the tea party activists that oppose him. His campaign strategy has consisted of adopting moderate positions and flooding the radio and TV airwaves with ads that tie incumbent Democrat Kay R. Hagan to President Obama, who is extremely unpopular in the Tar Heel State.

But the backlash highlights Mr. Tillis weakness with the Republican base and helps explain why he consistently trails in the polls behind Mrs. Hagan, who was supposed to be one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats this year.

SEE ALSO: Tillis blasts Hagan for missing committee meetings, briefing on Islamic State

With two weeks until the election, Mrs. Hagan led Mr. Tills 47 percent to 44 percent in a Public Policy Polling survey this week. The 3-point lead was within the polls margin of error, but nearly every poll for the last two months has put Mrs. Hagan in front. Mrs. Hagan leads Mr. Tillis by the same 3-point margin with or without Libertarian Sean Haugh in the matchup, a sign that his role as a potential spoiler is diminishing.

The consensus at the meeting was that they didnt care if defeating Mr. Tillis sent Mrs. Hagan back to Washington and foiled Senate Republicans quest for a net gain of six seats to seize majority control of the upper chamber this year.

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Thom Tillis Senate bid imperiled by tea party toll-road disdain