Monkey Business Report: Rockingham County GOP edition
Senator Phil Berger‘s passion for benefiting himself, his friends and family at all our expense is becoming precariously close to hurting GOP fortunes in his county and screwing the rest of us.
We told you earlier about the NCGOP HQ in Raleigh inserting itself into the Rockingham board of commissioners race. (There are three seats to vote on. One of the five candidates for those three seats is Berger’s son. Two of the five candidates support Phil Berger’s plans to bring a casino to Rockingham. All are Republicans. Guess WHO got all of the *love* from the Raleigh GOP machine?)
Republican Jeff Kallam is one of the three GOP nominees for county commissioner. He has been a vocal critic of the Berger machine’s efforts to bring a casino to Rockingham County. Kevin Berger, the senator’s son, and Mark Richardson are being supported by the pro-casino Berger group. Two other Republicans – casino opponents Cyndy Hayworth and Lynn Knight – are seeking to defeat Richardson and Berger. (The aforementioned NCGOP mailer on this race to Rockingham voters neglected to mention the presence of Kallam, Hayworth or Knight in this race.)
A local political operative in Rockingham County has briefed us on how the Berger gang’s hard-nosed casino tactics are affecting the political process in the county:
[…] “The county party had Jeff [Kallam}’s name on their local Republican Guide and then had their monthly meeting and told everyone to black out Jeff’s name. This created a problem at the Rockingham County Board of Elections during early voting. Ten percent of ballots on the first few days were ‘spoiled’ because voters were actually marking through Jeff Kallam’s name – like local Republican leaders did on the Republican guide.” […]
Senator Berger used every bit of political muscle he had to ram approval of casinos through the General Assembly — even holding the state budget hostage as leverage. Berger and his little buddy Timmy in the House couldn’t scrounge up the votes to get it done. So, don Berger was denied (for now).
Adding to the headaches for the pro-casino crowd in Rockingham County are recent moves by concerned landowners and groups like Citizens for Good Growth in Rockingham County:
Rockingham County, NC – Camp Carefree, a camp for special needs and disabled children, along with other nearby landowners continue to fight the casino developer who rezoned nearly 200 acres right beside the Rockingham County camp. The Camp and affected landowners filed last week their brief with the North Carolina Court of Appeals arguing that the lower court wrongly dismissed their rezoning lawsuit earlier this year.
The brief can be accessed here: https://www.ncappellatecourts.org/show-file.php?document_id=362436In April 2024, Judge Clayton Somers, who had been appointed by the legislature as a Special Superior Court judge only weeks after the Camp filed the lawsuit in 2023, dismissed the lawsuit outright, finding that the Camp and others did not have standing to bring the lawsuit. In the brief, the Camp and other landowners argue that the damage that would caused by the rezoning of the land by the casino developer gives standing for the lawsuit to proceed.While some have believed the casino issue to be done, the casino developer has continued to pursue the rezoning of the land in Rockingham County. Senator Phil Berger, the leader of the state Senate, was the primary champion of casino legislation in the legislature told a newspaper in July of this year that casino legislation is dormant, suggesting it may be brought back up at some point in the future.Knowing that the casino issue is not dead and could easily be brought back up after the election, the casino issue has continued to rile up Rockingham county residents. It has led to grassroots write-in campaigns for County Commissioner candidates Cyndy Hayworth and Lynn Knight who are anti-casino. They, along with the top Republican primary winner, Jeff Kallam, are seeking to unseat the incumbent County Commissioners Kevin Berger, son of Senator Berger, and Mark Richardson who voted to grant the request of the casino developer to rezone the property. Cyndy Hayworth had served on the county Planning Board and voted to not recommend the rezoning and was later removed from the Planning Board by Berger, Richardson, and other Commissioners.The write-in County Commissioner campaigns have drawn special attention despite there being no Democrat opposition on the ballot. The North Carolina Republican Party sent out mailers to county residents during the early voting period that highlighted Berger and Richardson who sided with the casino developer.
I can confirm there are other counties in the east DIVIDED by the county GOP and fellow-republican’s.
Beaufort Co is a ‘hot mess’ to say the least.
MAJOR division.
I think this GOP division is widespread, but I do not know of a better example of it than Beaufort County.
Moore County GOP says “Hold our beer”
In Moore county, you had the Vice Chair of the GOP conspiring with the chair of the school board to “take out” a conservative Republican School Board memeber (me) through a bogus censure and then a fraudulent “endorsement” process.
Both of those blew up spectacularly in their faces, as they should have, as they abused their power for personal power and personal revenge.
Yeah, I’ve got to admit that Moore County GOP treachery is mighty impressive.
Here’s a Beaufort County GOP example: A citizen goes into the BC GOP Headquarters and strikes up a conversation with the 2nd Vice Chair who is running the HQs. Start talking about one of the school board races – a Republican candidate is taking on a 40-year incumbent Democrat. The Republican official starts campaigning for the Democrat. It turns out the citizen was a close relative of the Republican candidate. So far, no action has been taken against the official. It’s doubtful there will be.
The good news is the conservative Republican candidate won, while taking on the Democrats as well as her own party.
Attaching Trump’s name to the slate of the crooked Berger casino machine slate will likely cost Trump votes in a key swing state race. Crossing out the name of a duly nominated GOP commissioner candiate is party disloyalty, and all the Berger operatives including Berger should be removed for party disloyalty. Berger is an arrogant Undocumented Democrat who openly endorsed a liberal Demcorat judge in 2022 against the Repubican nominee who ultimately beat him. Berger is a traitor and needs to be kicked out of the party with all of his minions. He is a despicable embarassement to the party, a total prostitute to the special interests who cares nothing for Republican principles.
same occurred in Beaufort and a Raleigh legislator was HEADING up the division and major diatribe, to include verbally abusing people at the polls.
COS candidates were abysmal!
NOW, grassroots, find, identify OUR primary candidates & NOT NCGOP puppets!!
The corrupt Raleigh leadership of Berger and Moore has bushwhacked the grassroots by making 30% the threshold to win a primary. That is a corrupt and despicable scheme to favor incumbnets and establishment candidates. It was crammed through it a highly dishonest fashion as a last minute “committee substitute”.
Republican party officials should be freed from any obligation to support a nominee who gets less than a majority since such a vote does not show adequate Republican voter support.
This nomination process gave us a couple of Undocumented Democrats on the Council of State, Briner and Boliek.
The effect of the casino controversy and Berger’s bullying tactics have not been fatal to his fortunes, but there is visible damage. In 2018, the last time he face serious opposition (from Jumpin’ Jen Mangrum), the results were: Berger 62%, Mangrum 34%. While still winning comfortably, his margin of victory this time shrank dramatically: Berger 53% anti-Berger 47% (Democrat Lukings 43% plus an anti-Berger independent 4%). And if you complain to the top local party leadership about their disgraceful efforts to black ball the anti-casino county commissioner, Jeff Kallam, your words will fall on totally deaf ears. Best recommendation: put the casino issue up for a referendum in Rockingham at the next general election, with a proviso that no out of county money may be spent in the campaigning.
Citizens are CATCHING ON!!!!!!!!
Saw so many responses last night, re: results.
How can Trump carry NC and we LOSE the COS; esp the Govt, Lt Gov, AG????
The ANSWER of course is: we had hand-picked establishment puppets and BAD candidates. Robinson DESTROYED down ballot, to boot.
We need to engage the 20’s and 30’s…THEY voted overwhelming for Trump and they need to get involved, perhaps running some of them for top offices.
We need to SELECT/PICK our candidates; not have them picked/selected, from top down dictatorship
The NCGOP should be ASHAMED and EMBARRASSED that Trump carried out state and we LOST THE 3 TOP MAJOR positions. Hopefully and prayerfully, Jefferson HOLDS the SC seat/position at the present voting records.
EVERY top position, Gov, LG, AG HELD ROBINSON in the crosshairs and TIED THEIR RACE TO HIM…..EVERYONE and IT WORKED. So did Green….
NCGOP has NO identity and CANNOT WIN races….
Come 2026, rise up grassroots. The county GOP may just have to have a civil war. As is, they are ineffective, inward civil wars and LOSE election after election. The factions and divisions are awful.
I don’t want berger, moore, et als deciding WHO I’m voting 2026 or 2030, period.