Berger concedes. NC preps to receive a NEW “Senator Sam.”
Phil Berger‘s team had filed all kinds of complaints. Recounts – that changed nothing — had already happened. Hearings were already scheduled for March 27 and April 6 to review thirteen provisional ballots. (Even if Berger had prevailed on his challenge of all 13 ballots, it would not have changed the election result. The final margin was 23. Beyond that, his remaining options involved lawyering up and tying the election up in court in perpetuity.)
Then, we got broadsided with a surprise announcement that Phil Berger – the capo di tutti of all things Republican and political in North Carolina – was surrendering on the protest of his March 3 primary loss to Rockingham County sheriff Sam Page. Perhaps someone had finally talked some sense into him about all the fiscal and political damage a prolonged protest would likely do to the party’s ticket for November.
I’ve followed Berger since the beginning of the so-called “Republican revolution” in Raleigh. Initially, he was a good counter-weight to the left-of-center antics of House speaker Thom Tillis and governor Pat McCrory. However, as those two moved on — it appeared Berger started to enjoy the perks of Raleigh a wee bit too much. Berger built a machine with tentacles extending into just about every aspect of governing. His team — not local parties — was picking candidates to run for the General Assembly. Money became a very important 
ingredient to the legislative process. Eventually, all of the legislative branch’s significant decisions were being made in and around Berger’s offices. A handful of folks were often calling the shots while everyone else sat around waiting for instructions. (In 2024, the Berger machine managed to get two of their own folks elected to the positions of state auditor and state treasurer.)
It was Phil Berger’s world. We were just allowed to live in it — for a price.
There is a Democrat candidate awaiting Sam Page in November. We hear state Democrats are dumping money on this guy, and that Roy Cooper and Josh Stein have both appeared with him for photo ops. Perhaps they are hoping they can pull off an upset in the wake of a very turbulent GOP primary. But the district is very, very, very Republican-leaning.
We also hear word that a search for Berger’s replacement as senate president pro tem is underway. Of course, that only matters if the GOP holds on to its majority. The names we’ve heard so far: Bill Rabon of Brunswick County, Mike Lee of New Hanover, and Todd Johnson of Union County. In our view, all three would be more of the same. The climate of fear and intimidation needs to be lifted forever from the senate chamber and the legislative buildings. And, of course, ditch the pay-to-play.
Are there any lessons from this? Sure:
- You elected folks in Raleigh are not as invincible and awesome as the
Raleigh press corps tells you that you are. In fact, you’re lucky that most of your constituents don’t know your names and couldn’t recognize you if you were trapped together in a coat closet.
Phil Berger was supposedly the most powerful man in the state. Yet, he lost his home county 2-to-1. $12 million in PAC money and the voters in a few Guilford County precincts kept the affair looking closer than it was.
In all honesty, a good chunk of you would lose if someone in your community – of good character and a respectable reputation – decided to file against you and seriously campaign. (Looking at you, Brenden Jones.) After all, that’s what happened to the invincible Phil Berger.
- Act like you actually care what the folks back home think.
That’s an area where Berger failed. He rarely came home. And it was made pretty clear that a donation to the senate GOP caucus was a great way to get his attention. The bigger, the better.
The casino kerfuffle was the worst. Berger and his son trying to shove a casino down his constituents’ throats gave a huge boost to the movement that gave us senator-elect Sam Page.
Position yourself as a teammate in the effort to improve life back home. Stop with the entitled “You-better-thank-God-I-even-know-where-your-silly-town-is” mentality. - Make friends with your sheriffs.
Sheriffs are incredibly influential people in North Carolina’s rural communities. People don’t know their legislators, but they DO know their sheriff. He/she keeps them safe. They see the sheriff in the community on a daily or weekly basis. As soon as word got around that sheriff Page might be filing against the senator, Berger’s goons began trashing Page six ways to September. Ads and mailers filled with outrageous exaggerations and outright lies flooded Rockingham County.
Instead of making people mad at Page, it got people mad at Berger. They’d known Page for nearly 30 years. They knew the garbage compiled by the Raleigh lobbyists and consultants and PACs wasn’t true. A sheriff is typically the most trusted, respected leader in a community. A sheriff who has served three or more terms is likely loved and respected. So, slandering the sheriff like he’s a Chapel Hill liberal is likely not a very smart move.
- MORE “Look at what we’ve accomplished together,” and LESS “My opponent is an A-HOLE.” Berger apparently didn’t have much of a record as a community servant to run on. So much of his record involved paying back statewide and national donors. So, Berger and his goons went nuclear on Page.
Berger’s son Kevin – chairman of the Rockingham County commissioners — led a full scale assault on Page’s record as sheriff. Never mind that the younger Berger had nary a cross word to say about Page until he heard word Page might file against his daddy. If the allegations against the sheriff had proved true, voters should have asked: “Where were the county commissioners? How did you miss this?”
Take some of this to heart, you folks on Jones Street. You could soon find yourself in Phil’s shoes.
To you folks in senate district 26 – Rockingham and Guilford counties – many of us across North Carolina take our hats off to you. You did a good thing by making a change. You’re sending a good man to our capital city. You’ve sent a loud-and-clear message about the importance of good government.
Let’s hope more folks in Raleigh got that message.
As to the last sentence, do or will they really realize that “you know what) rolls down hill as does $pecial intere$t CCA handouts?
Put very well — to which one might add that Berger’s out of touch situation was also made emphatic by his endorsement of a Democrat judicial candidate in 2022. Instead of issuing a reprimand for violating party rules, the party leadership, both local and state, ignored his conduct and slammed the people who fussed about it. The Senator must have assumed he was untouchable. Then there is the abrupt reversal on Medicaid expansion — after his party had defended his previous position for years, we were left with egg on our faces. Not to mention the 2024 contests for county commissioner — the Senator hauled in tens of thousands of PAC money, even from out of state, to help smear his son’s chief opponent. While we wish the Senator well and thank him for his earlier service and his kind concession statement, let his drift away from his own people and the abusive behavior of the party minions who protected him be a lesson to all.