A blow to The House of Berger?
There was a lot of good cheer among Raleigh Republicans at the end of primary election day. Most conservative primary candidates were defeated. It was looking like another year of business-as-usual in our fair capital city.
With Tim Moore departing for DC and the race for governor up in the air, a lot of talk has centered on how good things were looking for the Rockingham County-based Berger dynasty: Daddy Phil running things on Jones Street; Phil, Jr. running things on the judiciary side (under daddy’s watchful eye, of course); and other son Kevin keeping an eye on things back home as a Rockingham County commissioner.
But at the end of election night, there was a tad bit of a hiccup. There was a county commissioner election in Rockingham County. The top three vote-getters earned seats on the county board. Kevin Berger, an incumbent, came in FOURTH.
Kevin Berger led the 2023 in-county efforts to bring a casino to Rockingham County. His dad, the state senate president pro-tem, championed the casino effort at the state level. The plan in Raleigh to implement casino expansion in North Carolina was pushed as part of the state budget proposal. One developer, who donated generously to key GOP legislators, would be the beneficiary of the passage of a budget containing the casino language. Passage of the state budget was delayed for months as grassroots groups besieged both legislative chambers with their protests of the casino deal. Soon, it became clear that a majority of legislators would not vote for a budget that included casinos. So, behind the scenes, the casinos were removed from the budget and the budget got passed.
Not much later, we got teased from Jones Street about how casinos could come back from the dead during the post-primary legislative short session.
Fast-forward to February 2024 – just before the primary vote – where we got THIS:
Hmmmm. Berger and his son, Kevin, were passionate warriors for the casino deal at the end of last year. They were both ready to go down with the ship in fighting for casinos.
So, WHY the apparent back-pedaling from senator Phil Berger just before the primary? Had he realized the casino issue was threatening Kevin’s reelection bid? Was he trying to throw Kevin a lifeline?
Kevin Berger came up a mere seven votes short. Canvassing is still to come. I know how small-town politics work. I understand the iron-fisted grip the Bergers have on Rockingham County. So, I would not be surprised if eight votes for Kevin Berger suddenly materialize.
Canvassing happens on March 15th. From there, the possibility of a recount could arise.
This development surely makes you reflect back on the pre-primary revelation that senator Berger himself was vulnerable to a primary challenge, thanks to the casino deal. Sheriff Sam Page, who passed on a Senate run for an ultimately unsuccessful lieutenant governor run, was IDed as a huge potential threat to Berger’s reelection.
Phil Berger Sr. (Casino Mafia Don) tried to hide attack ad money used to target Kevin Berger’s opponent, Craig Travis in the commissioner race. Approximately $25,000.00 was spent on mailers specifically going after Travis who has been outspoken about rezoning for a casino in Rockingham County. The Paid for statement on the Mailer was ‘North Carolina Conservatives Fund’ which had not properly filed their financial statements to the NC Board of Elections or the Secretary of State. After filing a complaint with the NC BOE, a document revealed that Atlas Consulting received the funds to produce tge mailers from a group called GO PAC….!
GUESS WHO IS THE BOARD ADVISOR…….YEP, Phil Berger Sr.
A day after this information was received, another group came into play with text ads totaling $65,000.00 for hit pieces that was also funded by Phil Berger Sr. and GO PAC.
Phil Berger Sr has turned into one of the most corrupt, self centered, self serving politicians in the State of North Carolina.
VOTE HIM OUT IN NOVEMBER
I don’t believe the Bergers really backed off from their support for the casinos. Tens of thousands of dollars poured into the County from outside the area, even outside the state, via hit-piece mailers that savaged the main challenger to the incumbent commissioners, Craig Travis. The “NC Conservatives Fund” which was the source of the flyers has been linked to Senator Berger. In spite of all their unsavory efforts, the local GOP Establishment lost two of the three commissioner seats, according to the election night returns. The incumbents’ fundamental blunder was ignoring the social and religious conservatives who are the bedrock of the Rockingham GOP and who vehemently opposed the casino project. And I don’t think the Bergers’ big muscle tactics sat well with a lot of primary voters, either.
Berger is a corrupt prostitute to the special interests, and casinos are just one of many special interests he services. Berger cares nothing about GOP principles, GOP voters,, or the GOP platform. He is such a prostitute for the special interests that he ought to mount a red light above his office door. The thing conservatives need to be wary of and to stop is Berger’s ambition to succeed Tillis in the US Senate in 2026.
NEVER TILLIS, NEVER BERGER.
It seems a number of corrupt or out-of-touch incumbent GOP county commissioners around the state got their pink slips issued Tuesday night. Besides Rockingham, Gaston, Granville, and Transylvania counties all had deadbeat incumbents shown the door.