North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) speaks to reporters on Oct. 20, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
President Donald Trump endorsed Phil Berger on Wednesday evening, backing the North Carolina Senate leader as he faces a Republican primary challenge next year.
“Phil Berger has my Complete and Total Endorsement for re-election,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
Berger has led Republicans in the Senate since 2005 and is one of the most powerful elected officials in the state. He is facing a challenge from Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, who has decried Berger as a backroom dealer who falls short on key conservative priorities.
Berger thanked Trump for the endorsement on social media and said he was “honored to receive it.”
Trump also praised Page, calling him a “lifetime supporter” and both of the candidates “outstanding people.” But he said he preferred to have Page “come work for us in Washington, D.C., rather than further considering a run against Phil.”
Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page is running against NC Senate leader Phil Berger the Senate District 26 GOP primary.But Page said in a statement that he would continue campaigning.
“I’ve committed to upholding conservative values here in North Carolina and ending the corruption and liberal policies Phil Berger has pushed for years,” Page said. “I will defeat Phil Berger on March 3.”
Over recent months, Berger has rolled out endorsements from prominent North Carolina Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Ted Budd and several of the U.S. House delegation.
Berger was for years considered effectively untouchable, leading what has become a Senate supermajority while shepherding state budgets and conservative priorities. But he suffered a political setback in 2023 after failing to garner support to fund four casinos within the budget, including one in Rockingham County.
Among those pushing back hardest against the casinos’ inclusion was Page. He has in the years since continued to serve as a critic of the Senate leader, and again appeared at the legislature (as an active candidate) to oppose a ban on in-shore shrimp trawling. That ban, led by the Senate under Berger, was abandoned in the House.
An endorsement from Trump has been the subject of scrutiny and discussion in the primary race before. Berger previously denied unsubstantiated rumors that he agreed to lead mid-decade redistricting in exchange for the president’s backing.
Trump’s informal offer for Page to join his administration, meanwhile, is also a familiar move. In 2024, when former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker was running to rejoin Congress, he abandoned his candidacy to join the Trump campaign at Trump’s request.
Berger and Page’s campaigns have volleyed a series of attacks at each other over the past few months.
Page, meanwhile, has been the subject of outside scrutiny, both legal and political.
He told reporters shortly after filing for office that he had spoken to the State Bureau of Investigation; on Wednesday, he told the Raleigh News & Observer that he was contacted and questioned “in regards to a drink machine vending account.”
That follows comments last month by Kevin Berger, Phil Berger’s son who serves on the Rockingham County commission. Berger and the county board had inquired about Page potentially entering financial contracts for the county jail without first getting approval.
Page has said he believes the uptick in scrutiny is connected to his challenge to Berger.
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