Bradley Mark Walker (born May 20, 1969) is an American politician and pastor who served as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 6th congressional district from 2015 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to head the Republican Study Committee in 2017 and vice chair of the House Republican Conference in 2019.
Walker unsuccessfully ran for Senate in the 2022 election, placing third in the Republican primary. He was also briefly a candidate in the 2024 North Carolina gubernatorial election and U.S. House election before withdrawing from that race to join Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
On April 10, 2025, President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Walker to be the U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, a position within the State Department. However, the Senate failed to act on Walker's nomination before adjourning for the year and his nomination expired. On January 8, 2026, Walker announced that he was withdrawing from consideration to serve as Ambassador at Large and instead he was appointed to serve as the Principal Advisor on Global Religious Freedom to the State Department. Walker left this newly created position on April 21, 2026. Walker has filed paperwork to challenge U.S. Senator Ted Budd in the 2028 U.S. Senate election in North Carolina.
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Early life and education
Walker was born on May 20, 1969, in Dothan, Alabama. He eventually attended Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville, Florida for a time before moving with his family to Houston. From there, Walker moved to the Piedmont Triad. He worked in business and finance for several years. Walker eventually returned to college to pursue the ministry and attend Piedmont Baptist College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina now Carolina University, graduating with a B.A. in Biblical studies.
Early career
In 2006, he became pastor of Northside Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina (Southern Baptist Convention). In 2008, he became pastor at Lawndale Baptist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. The church has a membership of several thousand congregants.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2014
Republican Howard Coble had represented the 6th district since 1985 when he announced his retirement at age 83. Coble supported Phil Berger Jr. in the May primary election and Walker finished second, though in the runoff election, Walker unexpectedly won 60% to 40%. Most of Walker's election funding came from individual contributions, which he noted in his primary victory speech. In the general election, Walker defeated Democratic attorney Laura Fjeld of Hillsborough. "I certainly do align with the Republican Party when it comes to traditional values," Walker said after the election, "but even so, limited government is my heart and my nature and I think that says a lot about North Carolina and maybe we are still more red than purple." He said that in his term he hoped to address poverty, immigration, and education issues.
2016
Walker significantly outspent his opponent, Democrat Pete Glidewell, in the 2016 campaign; Walker's $818,000, about 40% from national political action committees (PACs), was nine times what Glidewell had fundraised. All North Carolina incumbents retained their seats; in the 6th district, Walker received 59% of the vote. Neither Walker nor Glidewell won their home county in the election.
During the 2016 presidential election, Walker called some of Republican nominee Donald Trump's remarks "morally reprehensible" and condemned Trump's lewd remarks about women as "vile." Nevertheless, Walker still backed Trump over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. After the election, Walker expressed support for incoming president Trump on the issues of taxes and education, but said he could not stand behind Trump's statements about a registry tracking Muslim Americans.
2018
Walker faced no primary challenger in 2018. On April 20, Walker's campaign raised $650,000 during a luncheon attended by Vice President Mike Pence, the largest sum in U.S. House history, effectively doubling what Walker had previously raised. In the general election, he defeated Democrat Ryan Watts of Burlington by about 13 percentage points.
2020
In June 2019, Walker decided against challenging Senator Thom Tillis in 2020, reportedly giving relief to Republican leaders who feared a bitter primary would hurt their prospects of retaining a U.S. Senate majority.
Tenure and political positions
Walker holds "deeply conservative" beliefs. He is an avowed opponent of the Affordable Care Act, and has led the conservative Republican Study Committee's efforts to repeal the health care reform legislation. He has called for "full repeal" of the legislation, and criticized 2015 Republican-sponsored legislation that would repeal only part of the act. In December 2016, Walker was one of only 33 Republican U.S. Representatives to vote "no" on a short-term stopgap funding measure that would appropriate millions of dollars in federal disaster relief spending in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. Walker said that he opposed such stopgap funding bills.
Walker has led efforts to improve the Republican Party's outreach to African Americans, and organized a February 2017 conference between the presidents and chancellors of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and Republican congressional leaders. He also worked with fellow Representative Alma Adams, a Democrat from North Carolina, to start an internship program for students from HBCUs. He is supportive of criminal justice reform initiatives, and has called for a shift in Republican approach to this issue.
He introduced the legislation H.R. 4369 Prison to Prosperity Act, inspired by author and prison reform activist Lynch Hunt.
In 2017, Walker became co-chair of the Congressional Prayer Caucus. During his 2018 service on a committee searching for the next House chaplain, Walker called for the committee to select a candidate "that has adult children," which would have effectively excluded Catholic priests and nuns from consideration. Fellow House member Rep. Gerry Connolly characterized Walker's suggestion as "anti-Catholic on its face." During the controversy that followed, House Speaker Paul Ryan's spokesperson announced that "Mr. Walker will not serve in a formal capacity" on the screening committee.
Walker played for the Republicans in the annual Congressional Baseball Game; he was a pitcher in the 2016 game.
In 2016, Walker launched a campaign to become chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), a faction of highly conservative Republicans. Walker defeated Andy Harris of Maryland in the November 2016 election, becoming the youngest RSC chairman in history.
Hayes indictment
Following the April 2019 indictment of former Rep. Robin Hayes for allegedly attempting to bribe state insurance officials, Politico identified Walker as the unnamed "Public Official A" in the indictment who called state insurance officials after a political committee under his control received a $150,000 donation. Walker was not indicted or named in the indictment. He denied any wrongdoing and said he has been fully cooperating with the probe.
Committee assignments
Committee on Homeland Security
Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications
Subcommittee on Transportation Security
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Subcommittee on Information Technology
Committee on House Administration (Vice Ranking Member)
Post-Congressional Career
2022 U.S. Senate Campaign
On December 1, 2020, Walker announced his candidacy for the open U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by retiring Republican senator Richard Burr. Walker's primary opponents included U.S. Representative Ted Budd and former Governor Pat McCrory. Budd received the endorsement of former president Donald Trump and won the nomination, with Walker finishing behind McCrory in third place.
2024 North Carolina Gubernatorial Campaign
Walker announced his candidacy for the 2024 North Carolina gubernatorial election. In October 2023, he withdrew from the governor's race to run for his old House seat.
2024 U.S. House Campaign
In October 2023, he withdrew from the governor's race to run for his old House seat. Addison McDowell finished in first place in the Republican primary election with 26% of the vote, short of the 30% of the vote required to avoid a runoff election, and Walker finished in second place, with 24%. Though Walker initially indicated that he wanted a runoff election, he opted to withdraw from the race and joined the Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign, making McDowell the Republican nominee.
Trump Administration
On April 10, 2025, President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Walker to be the U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, a position within the State Department.
Reports started circling that U.S. Senator Ted Budd, who defeated Walker in the 2022 U.S. Senate primary, was "working behind the scenes" to block Walker's nomination.
After the Senate failed to act on Walker's nomination before adjourning for the year, his nomination expired. On January 8, 2026, Walker announced that he was withdrawing from consideration for the position of Ambassador at Large and instead was appointed to serve as the Principal Advisor on Global Religious Freedom to the State Department. Walker left this newly created position on April 21, 2026.
2028 U.S. Senate campaign
Walker has filed paperwork to challenge U.S. Senator Ted Budd in the 2028 U.S. Senate election in North Carolina.
Personal life
Walker is married to Kelly Sears, a nurse practitioner. They have three children and live in Summerfield, North Carolina, north suburb of Greensboro.