Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page declared victory Tuesday night in his race over powerful state Senate leader Phil Berger, touting his two-vote lead in the Republican primary in Senate District 26.
But Berger told reporters the race is not over. “We will continue through the process until we know what the result is,” he said.
Page has already asked state Auditor Dave Boliek to recuse himself from any issues related to the race, including auditing the election result.
A law passed in 2024 gave Boliek oversight of the State Board of Elections, and he has taken an active role in elections administration. Boliek also campaigned for Berger last week outside an early voting site in Rockingham County.
“The optics just don’t look good,” Page said in an interview. “That doesn’t give me fair and objective optics.”
Berger has championed the expansion of the auditor’s powers under Boliek, backing proposals to add dozens more employees and political hires to his department than previous auditors were allowed.
After Boliek won his election in 2024, he hired some Berger staffers, including spokesman Randy Brechbiel and Berger’s longtime election law attorney Brent Woodcox, whom Boliek named chief of staff.
Page said he hadn’t received a response from Boliek, but it appeared to Page that a recusal in this instance “would seem pretty obvious.”
Brechbiel did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Before the lawsuits start, the process of collecting all ballots and reviewing provisional ballots must begin. There are hundreds of them – more than enough to change the lead in the race.
County election workers have until Friday to review provisional ballots. Rockingham has 137 provisional ballots to review, and Guilford has a total of 242, but the Guilford count includes votes cast in precincts outside Senate District 26.
People who did not have photo identification with them when they went to the polls have until noon Friday, March 6 to bring it to their county board of elections. Absentee voters who have a “curable deficiency,” like a missing or misplaced signature, also have until noon Friday to correct their ballots.
Ballots cast by military and overseas voters by election day have until 5 p.m. March 12 to make it to county boards of elections.
County boards of elections will meet Friday, March 13 to certify the results. If the vote margin is less than 1%, the candidate who is trailing can ask for a recount.
The deadline to demand a recount in this state Senate race is noon, March 17, according to the state Board of Elections. The recount demand must be in writing and delivered to the state board.
Recounts conclude by March 25, when the state Board of Elections meets to certify election results.
However the vote counts go, political scientist Chris Cooper said he expects lawsuits before the race is decided.
“We don’t know who is going to win,” Cooper said in an interview with NC Newsline opinion columnist Rob Schofield. “We’re almost certain there’s going to be litigation.”
Berger and PACs supporting him spent more than $10 million in the race, much of that poured into negative ads to drag down Page. Berger also had President Donald Trump’s endorsement, though Page argued that he was the true MAGA adherent in the race.
Page told supporters Tuesday that the negative ads against him actually hurt Berger.
Political scientist Michael Bitzer said that may be true.
“Sometimes negative advertising works,” Bitzer said. “Sometimes it aggravates your opponent and their supporters to say, ‘You know what? You can’t say that about my guy. I’m gonna show you.’”
The race is also counter to the trend of the nationalization of politics, Cooper said. Even the Trump endorsement and all the money spent on Berger’s behalf couldn’t guarantee a win.
Berger lost handily in Rockingham, his home county, with Page winning about 67% of the vote there. The results were nearly the opposite in the Guilford County precincts, where Page is less well known. Berger won nearly 68% of the Guilford vote.
“Some things are still local,” Cooper said. “Sometimes relationships still matter.”
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