'The voters have spoken': Longtime NC Senate leader Berger concedes to Page in close GOP primary

Senate leader Phil Berger conceded Tuesday in the Republican primary for his long-held Triad-area seat — a shocking defeat for one of the state's most powerful lawmakers whose long tenure was upended by a challenger who said the incumbent had lost touch with his district.

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page defeated Berger, despite efforts from state Republican leaders and President Donald Trump himself to convince Page to end his campaign. 

Berger's concession came on the same day elections officials in Rockingham and Guilford counties completed a second recount that affirmed Page’s 23-vote lead — one of the closest legislative races in state history.  

"While this was a close race, the voters have spoken, and I congratulate Sheriff Page on his victory,” Berger said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. "Over the past 15 years, Republicans in the General Assembly have fundamentally redefined our state's outlook and reputation. It has been an honor to play a role in that transformation.” 

Berger won’t leave office until January. In the meantime, the legislature is slated to come back in April, and Berger is still the leader of the Senate. He said he would continue to work closely with legislative colleagues during the upcoming short legislative session and work to support all Republican Senate candidates to protect the chamber’s veto-proof majority.

Page, who for weeks has called on Berger to concede, thanked the Senate leader on Tuesday. 

“This was a hard-fought campaign, and I’m honored that the voters of Guilford and Rockingham counties placed their trust in me,” Page said. “Now it’s time for our community to come together and focus on winning in November.”

Berger, who was endorsed by Trump, has represented the Rockingham area for 25 years and has led his chamber for 15 years. 

The defeat will lead to a shake-up of Republican leadership in the state legislature. And Page is expected to go to the Senate; the county leans heavily Republican. He faces Democrat Steve Luking in the November general election. "I will not be sorry to see [Berger] go," Luking said in an email late Tuesday. "I look forward to a spirited and issue-focused competition with Sam Page.”

The district sprawls from the Virginia border southward to cover rural areas of Rockingham and Guilford counties while avoiding the Democratic hubs of Greensboro and High Point. The race had attracted national attention because of the high stakes. 

As the leader of the Senate, Berger had strong influence over which measures advance in the chamber. Over the past 15 years, he has led Republican measures to cut taxes, slash regulations, and rewrite state policies to better align with the GOP’s agenda. Trump endorsed Berger in the race last year after the Senate leader led efforts to redraw North Carolina’s congressional districts, giving Republicans a better chance of winning a seat that Democrats have held for decades. 

Berger's legislative track record helped him win 13 elections in a row by double-digit margins.

Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, who previously served in the Senate under Berger’s leadership, acknowledged Berger’s influence on Tuesday. “While we didn’t always see eye to eye on the issues of the day, I appreciate Senator Berger’s deep love for North Carolina,” Stein said.

Berger's work, however, wasn’t enough to save him from mounting frustrations from constituents who, if the election results are any indication, agreed with Page’s gripe that Berger’s statewide influence distracted him from on-the-ground issues facing his own district. 

Page gained the trust of many Triad voters even before running for state Senate. He helped lead Trump’s reelection campaign in North Carolina in 2020. And last year, he ran for lieutenant governor and placed fifth among the GOP primary field of 11 candidates, along the way carrying Rockingham and six other counties.

Frustration over casinos, budget

North Carolina hasn’t adopted significant raises for state employees in the current fiscal year in part because Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall are at odds over a comprehensive state budget.

Hall, R-Caldwell, praised Berger Tuesday, calling him a “a stalwart champion of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and the values that have made North Carolina a beacon for families and businesses.”

Page blamed Berger for the budget stalemate while also capitalizing on local resentment that had been building toward Berger since 2023, when state lawmakers considered allowing a casino in Rockingham County.

Casinos are only allowed on tribal lands in North Carolina. Berger at the time supported a proposal to allow for casinos outside tribal lands in an effort to keep North Carolina gamblers — and the tax dollars they generate — from leaving the state for a new casino across the Rockingham County line in Danville, Virginia.

Page aligned himself with residents who spoke out against the idea and took issue with stakeholders making preparations without first seeking public input. The Rockingham County Board of Commissioners — which includes Berger’s son, Kevin Berger —  rezoned a 192-acre plot to potentially allow a casino, even before state law had been changed. 

It was that decision, Page said Tuesday, that he repeatedly heard about on the campaign trail. Asked by reporters which issue tipped the election in his favor, Page said: “Our citizens still have not gotten over the issues about gambling expansion, gaming, casinos, stuff like that.”

Page continued: “If we're going to be conservative, then we need to be conservative and we need to have conservative values.”

Berger maintained that he welcomed public feedback and took it into consideration, as evidenced by his decision to abandon the casino idea. Berger says his record shows he has been responsive to Rockingham residents and fellow Republicans across the state. He has provided funding for various community needs and economic development projects — including the opening of a UNC Health hospital, as well as tens of millions of dollars for transportation projects and water and sewer infrastructure upgrades, in addition to funding for local colleges and universities.

He accused Page of misleading the public and cast Page as someone who can’t handle more responsibility. Berger pointed to inmate deaths in the Rockingham County Detention Center, which is run by the sheriff’s office.

Still, Page’s critics — including Berger — recognized the strength of his campaign. Outside a Guilford County polling place on Election Day, Berger told WRAL that he launched his reelection campaign earlier than usual last year because Page is “probably better known than me.”

Third-party groups began running pro-Berger ads roughly six months ahead of the primary. Billboard and mail ads showed Berger carrying a shotgun and wearing camouflage, while also touting an endorsement and an A-plus grade from the National Rifle Association.

On the eve of North Carolina’s election filing period in November, a top Berger deputy traveled from her Alamance County district to Page’s Eden home to discourage him from running. Amy Galey, the state Senate Majority Whip, left a letter telling Page that his campaign would help Democrats. Republican donors would spend millions helping Berger keep his seat — leaving the party with less money to use against Democrats in the midterm elections.

Days after Galey’s plea, Trump endorsed Berger in the race. But in doing so, the president praised Page as an “outstanding” person, saying in a December social media post: “Sam Page is GREAT, he has been a longtime supporter, but I really want him to come work for us in Washington, D.C., rather than further considering a run against Phil.”

For years, Page has been a vocal supporter of Trump and his stance on immigration. In 2016, Page co-founded “Sheriffs for Trump.” In 2017, Page was one of several sheriffs to visit Trump at the White House and praise his agenda. In 2020, he helped lead the president’s reelection campaign in North Carolina.  

When Trump called Page and offered the sheriff a job in Washington D.C., Page said he declined because he believed he could be “more effective” for Rockingham County residents in the state Senate.

Recounts and protests 

Berger’s concession was a surprise to Page. In recent weeks, Berger had telegraphed the potential for legal action in the wake of a failed effort to convince the state to launch a full hand recount — which would have circumvented the recount process laid out by state law. 

Page led Berger by two votes after Election Day voting. That lead grew to 23 votes after the county tabulated provisional, overseas and military ballots. The lead was reaffirmed after a machine recount last week. That led to Tuesday’s hand recount of ballots at randomly selected precincts, as prescribed by state law. The 23-vote lead held up after an examination of those ballots, about 1,300 in all. 

Berger had tried to avoid the second recount by preemptively requesting a recount of about 220 “overvote” and “undervote” ballots that registered no vote for his primary. Overvotes happen when more than one candidate is selected in a race that requires just one selection. Undervotes happen when no candidate is selected in a race. In some cases, an overvote or undervote is accidentally recorded when a ballot is marked in a way that ballot-counting machines misinterpret. 

Examining the 220 ballots, specifically, would’ve answered Berger’s questions about the race results more efficiently than recounts prescribed in state law, he argued. 

Nonetheless, state election officials last week rejected Berger’s request for a special recount of those 220 ballots, saying they didn’t think they had the legal authority to do what Berger wanted. So Berger asked for a full recount — of all the ballots in the district. Such a recount, however, is only allowed if enough errors are found during the recount of ballots in the randomly selected precincts, like the recount being conducted Tuesday. Had the Tuesday recount narrowed the margin by just a couple votes, Berger would have been able to request the full recount. 

And the longtime senator appeared ready to challenge elements of the recount process in court. 

Berger, who had created a legal fund, alleged last week that overvotes and undervotes were being adjudicated differently in the two counties in violation of equal protection clauses of state and U.S. constitutions. He had also made a second request for a full recount. 

Separately, Berger challenged the eligibility of 13 voters, alleging ballot or registration irregularities. Those challenges, however, wouldn’t have been enough to change the outcome of the race had the 23-vote stood. 

State board members have discretion to call for a full hand recount if they feel it would warrant a change in the result of the election, Jason Tyson, a state board spokesman, said Tuesday. And the board scheduled a meeting to meet again Wednesday to discuss the race. 

But hours after that meeting was put on the calendar, Berger issued a statement congratulating Page on his victory and withdrew his protests of the 13 ballots. 

Scrutiny over elections

The outcome of the election was vindication for elections officials whose roles had come under scrutiny in the walkup to Berger’s concession. 

“It shows that no matter what — small vote margins, large vote margins — these boards of elections really do a lot behind the scenes,” Charlie Colicutt, the Guilford County elections director, said Tuesday. “Our goal, the reason we do this job, is to get it right and to show that we got it right. And I think that’s what we’ve done.”

In the weeks after Election Day, Page had raised concerns over whether the recount process would be conducted fairly. Days after the March 3 primary, Page questioned whether the top state leader in charge of overseeing elections could be trusted during these post-election processes.

The post-election process was led by the state elections board, and Page frequently pointed out that its work is overseen by Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek, who endorsed Berger and campaigned with him in Rockingham County. Page asked Boliek to distance himself from the process, citing an appearance of a conflict of interest. 

Boliek declined to recuse himself, saying that while he appointed members to elections boards across the state, he doesn’t have a vote on decisions made by the State Board of Elections. State Elections Director Sam Hayes likewise questioned what Boliek would even recuse himself from, telling reporters last week “there really is no role for the auditor to play."

Page said Boliek had called him to reassure him that “there have been efforts made to make sure that the integrity is maintained within the system.” After the state elections board voted against Berger’s request to circumvent the typical recount process and launch a full hand recount, Page’s concerns were assuaged.  

“It gave me a lot more confidence in the system, because I felt like everybody was on a fair playing ground,” Page told reporters during a news conference late Tuesday. “And … a free and fair election is what everybody expects.”