NRA: Pro-Berger mailers & billboards misuse logo, mislead voters
There is a pretty intense GOP primary underway in Rockingham County between state senate president pro tem Phil Berger and county sheriff Sam Page. While most 2026 campaigns are still just warming up, this fight already has the feel of a battle royale.
Some billboards and mailers have been popping up around Senate District 26 – which includes 
Rockingham County and parts of Guilford County. They appear to suggest Berger is running in 2026 with the blessing of the National Rifle Association. They also suggest Berger has an A+ rating for his voting record from the NRA. (The advertising includes a disclaimer that it is paid for by a political action organization called GOPAC. According to GOPAC’s website, Phil Berger is a member of its national Legislative Leaders Advisory Board.)
National Rifle Association leadership was contacted about this flurry of advertising and THIS is what they had to say:
An amusing sideline to this story: in the 2018 primary, the Rockingham GOP leadership was greatly alarmed by some handouts which asserted that specific candidates were “the” conservative Republican choices in the contest, demanded their removal from polling places and that the author of the leaflets apologize to the County Executive Committee. Admitting to no devious purpose but agreeing that the flyers were ambiguous, said apology was made (but some members of the Committee were still grumbling about the affair years later). You do not suppose the County Committee will demand an apology from Senator Berger, do you? Don’t hold your breath.
GOPAC once had a strong connection to Newt Gingrich but in recent years has been wholly owned by the GOP establishment and the special interests. Back when NC’s Green New Deal was being pushed, by Phil Berger, among others, GOPAC mailed out postcards promoting HB951, the NC Green New Deal.
The NRA colluded with Berger to kill North Carolina’s Constitutional Carry bill a couple of years ago, against the wishes of most gun rights supporters in our state. The NRA also has a very bad habit of always endorsing incumbents over challengers. For national gun rights issues and endorsements, Gun Owners of America is a much more trustworthy gun rights group.