WHEELING — U.S. Senate candidate Tom Willis recounted how he met his wife, Sara Willis, during a campaign stop this week in Wheeling, offering a personal background behind his 2026 Republican primary bid.
Talking with a group of supporters at Perkins Restaurant, Willis described meeting Sara in 2008 while he was deployed overseas. According to Willis, he was serving as a U.S. Army Special Forces officer at the time, and Sara was visiting the region where he was stationed.
Sara Willis is originally from Macedonia and was previously Miss Macedonia. She participated in the national pageant associated with the Miss World competition, one of the longest-running international beauty pageants.
Tom Willis said he was a widower with children when they met and that their initial conversation included discussion of his family circumstances.
The couple married about a year after meeting and have been together for approximately 17 years. They have since raised a family while Willis pursued military service, law, and business interests in West Virginia, including a law firm with multiple offices, a title and escrow company, and a construction business.
Willis has also referenced personal losses in earlier campaign events, including the death of his first wife from cancer and the later death of a son after a prolonged illness. He has said those experiences influenced his decision to enter public life.
Sara Willis has largely remained out of the public spotlight during the campaign. According to Willis, she has focused on family responsibilities and assisting with private business operations rather than participating in public-facing political activity.
Willis has increasingly shared elements of his personal biography with voters he competes in the Republican Primary against U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito.
Willis has positioned himself as a conservative challenger, emphasizing economic concerns, cost of living issues and border security as central themes of his campaign.
The Wheeling event is part of a broader statewide campaign schedule as candidates in the 2026 Republican primary seek to build voter support ahead of the primary nomination contest.
