Rockingham sheriff has senator Berger in his sights
Folks, we may have the chance to rid ourselves of TWO scoundrels in one primary. US senator Thom Tillis has at least one primary opponent.
Now, it’s clear that Rockingham County sheriff Sam Page (R) will be taking on fellow Republican and Rockingham County resident Phil Berger in the May 2026 primary for state senate.
Page is a county sheriff with a national political profile. He was a popular figure and speaker for Tea Party groups during The Tea Party era. Page has caught the attention of MAGA groups and Donald Trump himself for his activism on the illegal immigration front.
Folks I talk with regularly in Rockingham County tell me sheriff Page is just about the only credible political threat in the county to Berger extending his stay in Raleigh past 2026. 
Many thought Page was definitely coming after Berger in 2024. But, instead, Page gave us a quixotic run for lieutenant governor. This time, folks in Rockingham County tell me, you can bank on a Berger-Page primary clash.
Filing doesn’t start until the end of this year. But it’s never too early to hit the ground running. Especially when the combatants are as formidable as these two.
State senate races — especially primaries — are typically quiet affairs that occur below radar. But a Page-Berger rumble will likely have more of a congressional race feel. Big money and prominent supporters from outside the district will likely be very interested and very involved.
Berger started his time as president pro tem with such promise. He was a good, conservative contrast to then-governor Pat McCrory and then-House speaker Thom Tillis. As both of those guys moved on, Berger appeared to get more comfortable and to move leftward.
A real shift toward aiding the interests of friends and protecting his personal interests was detected. We’re seeing less interest in controlling or cutting spending and more in things like legalized marijuana and casinos.
Berger developed quite an entourage in Raleigh and Rockingham County — many of whom he has embedded in state government, county government, lobbying and business.
There appears to be a serious effort afoot to have Berger declared a ‘disloyal’ Republican by 
state GOP leaders. Berger endorsed an incumbent Democrat judge running for reelection against a Republican challenger. (NCGOP bylaws frown on that kind of activity by its elected officials.)
Berger’s pick lost the race, but was tapped by the General Assembly for a ‘special’ Superior Court seat.
Berger’s in-county political machine — in particular, his county commissioner son Kevin — has been named in a pending lawsuit. (Much of this suit appears to be tied to activities surrounding the campaign to bring casinos to Rockingham County. Sheriff Page was a leader in the campaign to block efforts by the Berger team to bring a casino to Rockingham County. )
The word is that the Berger team has been trying to get congressman Tim Moore’s former chief of staff — now a Superior Court judge — appointed to hear the case.
Liberal “Undocumented Democrat” Phil Berger is a disgrace. He has backed and pushed through the Senate all of the key policy objectives of Roy Cooper – Repeal of HB2 (the law that had kept men out of womens restrooms and locker rooms until Berger got it repealed), approving the Green New Deal (HB951 as rewritten in the Senate by Berger and his cronies), adopting the Obamacare Medicaid expansion (even thought the SCOTUS said we did not have to), and adopting state Obamacare exchange (again even though the SCOTUS said we did not have to). While pushing these key Democrat policies, some of them also national Democrat objectives, Berger also blocked key gun rights legislation that conservatives wanted, the Constitutional Carry bill. With fake “Reublicans” like Phil Berger, who even needs Democrats? Roy Cooper did not need his own party to get his key agenda items through the General Assembly because he had Berger.
Berger is as phony as a three peso bill. He is also a complete prostitute for the liberal special interests, so much so that he ought to mount a red light above his office door.
It is great to see Berger hopefully get his comeupance on his blatant party disloyalty on that judge race. Supporting and endorsing any liberal Democrat judge makes him a total traitor to the Republican Party. If the NCGOP chairman tries to sweep that formal complaint under the rug by stalling on bringing it up to the Executive Committee, he will need to be replace as chairman. Liberal Democrat judges are a huge threat as can be seen on what some of them are trying to inappropriately do to stall Trump’s agenda.
NEVER BERGER. NEVER TILLIS.
Look for it, but I expect Berger to “act” like a conservative now that his seat is threatened. Just like Tillis now acting like a conservative while his seat is threatened. Neither one is fooling anybody.
Sam Page’s challenge to Senator Berger is welcome news. The Senator has done much that is good, but for the last several years he has definitely gotten out of touch with his constituents. The gripes? Cronyism, disloyalty to the party, interfering in the local elections with piles of money, some from out of state, to help his son barely squeak through a dirty reelection campaign for commissioner, attempting to torpedo an anti-casino GOP candidate for commissioner who was a solid victor in the spring primary, abandonment of HB2, pulling NC deeper into the absurd and expensive “green energy” program, and finally the unpopular casino project,. He has not clearly disavowed the latter and many Rockingham voters fear he will revive the effort at the first opportunity. It is quite a list! Thank you for your service, Senator, but it is time for you to retire.
Sheriff Page is an honorable man who is running for the right reasons, unlike Berger who cares nothing about his constituents and has abused his power to enrich himself, pay back his donors, and buy offices for his children. He is everything that’s wrong with politics today. If Trump is serious about shining a light on corruption and getting rid of pay-for-players, he should endorse Page and stay far away from people like Berger and Moore.