Sam Page widens lead over Phil Berger. (Panic / reality set in for Raleigh swamp-dwellers. )

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They threw everything but the kitchen sink at sheriff Sam Page.  They outspent him 100-to-1.  But when the smoke cleared, the grassroots-powered Page campaign came out on top of incumbent senator Phil Berger — arguably the boss of bosses of Raleigh Republicans and, some say, state government itself.

At the end of Election Day, the Page victory margin stood at just two votes. But after provisional ballots in the senate district’s two counties – Guilford and Rockingham — were counted today, the Page lead grew to 23 votes.

There are still some overseas ballots – mostly military — to consider.  But even if Berger won all of those, insiders tell us there are not enough to wipe out Page’s lead.

The next step is likely a recount and some litigation.  You’d expect lawyers — given the fact that Team Berger spent 10-12 MILLION bucks on this race and still apparently came up two dozen votes short.  The law allows for recounts in a race that finishes this close. 

Berger’s closest ally in the NC House came up short in his primary, as did two Berger allies on the Rockingham County board of commissioners. 

If this result holds, it will be a rare loss for a  Donald Trump endorsement recipient in a North Carolina  primary race.  Linda Bennett lost her primary bid to replace Mark Meadows in Congress in 2020. Bo Hines lost his bids for Congress in 2022 and 2024.  Mark Robinson won his 2024 primary for governor but lost the general election.

(It is interesting to see that a certain well-known handlebar-mustachioed Mitt Romney fanboy™ is now being quoted by the drive-by media as a “Berger campaign spokesman.”  We guess he now has plenty of time on his hands for this new role, given the *untimely* end of his role as the mastermind of the Eric Rouse campaign.) 

It is our understanding that the apparent loser in a qualifying close race, in this case Senator Berger, has until March 17 to ask for a recount.

Should Berger survive this episode and return to Raleigh for another term, he will likely be weakened politically.  After all, he spent 10-12 million buckeroos to barely eke out a win over an underfunded challenger.  Phil Berger will appear a lot less intimidating and would likely be ripe for some kind of palace coup action.