As voters decide their political futures, what Berger and Page say about heated race
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Berger touts experience and projects; Page stresses local ties and conservative values.
- Outside PACs and dark‑money ads have escalated tensions in this contentious primary.
- SD-26 primary pits Senate leader Phil Berger against Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page.
If you are among the 26,000 Rockingham County registered Republican voters and thousands more in Guilford County who live in Senate District 26, this is a story for you.
If you are one of the 11 million people living in North Carolina, this is also a story for you.
The outcome of the March 3 Republican primary election between Republican Sen. Phil Berger, of Eden, and Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, also of Eden, will have ripple effects from, as they say, Murphy to Manteo.
North Carolina has 50 state senators, but the Senate is controlled by Republicans, because they have 30 senators compared to Democrats’ 20. And the most powerful senator is Berger, chosen by his caucus to lead them as Senate president pro tempore after Republicans flipped the General Assembly in 2010.
If Berger loses, another Senate Republican will become the leader after the 2026 election.
“I have no intention of losing,” Berger, 73, told The News & Observer on Tuesday.
Page, 69, told The N&O that if voters send him to Raleigh, he plans to “drain the swamp.”
Berger, Page and power at the legislature
The district leans heavily toward Republicans. Berger didn’t have a primary in his last election, in 2024, but in the general election he won with 54%, or 67,081 votes. That was also a presidential election year, and turnout is expected to be much lower in a primary in a midterm.
As of Feb. 27, more than 14,612 people have voted in the District 26 Republican primary so far, according to a tracker maintained by the John Locke Foundation using state data.
The voters in that single district are going to decide the future of state politics for the whole state.
As Senate leader, Berger has the final say on what bills get a vote, and even what bills get a committee hearing. If Page defeats him, he is likely to go on to win the general election, but will be a freshman senator with considerably less power than Berger has built in the Senate.
Berger sees his experience as a positive. Page paints Berger as someone who is beholden to special interests because he spends too much time in Raleigh, where the General Assembly convenes. Rockingham County is about an hour-and-a-half to a two-hour drive from the capital city.
The News & Observer interviewed both Berger and Page in the district on Tuesday.
Here’s what they said about why they hope voters choose them over their opponent, and what they say about controversies — from deaths at the county jail under Page’s tenure, to lobbyists at polling places, to money pouring into the race from outside groups, to a failed attempt to get Page to drop out of the race.
Plus, what they’ll do if they win, or lose, and if they’ll vote for the winner in the general election.
Berger says he’s ‘the most effective voice’ for the district
Berger said the main pitch he’s making to voters in Rockingham and Guilford counties is “effectiveness.”
“I don’t think there’s any question that the person that has been selected as the leader of the Republicans in the Senate for a number of years, and the leader of the Senate, is going to be a more effective voice for local people than someone who is a freshman,” he said.
“Sort of corollary to that is just pointing out the things that we’ve been able to do over the years, not just the policies on a statewide basis, but those things that have benefited Rockingham County and taxpayers in Rockingham County with some of the ability that we’ve had to direct water and sewer dollars into the community, make sure that construction projects are taken care of,” he said.
“Point out that to the extent that we’ve had success in recruiting businesses, that in many respects, that success is dependent on what I’ve been able to do in terms of interfacing on a one-on-one basis, with some of the decision makers, whether it’s with the company or with people in state government.”
JetZero chose Greensboro as the location for its first airplane factory, citing a “supportive business friendly state culture,” and jet manufacturer Boom Supersonic is projected to bring thousands of jobs to the area.
Berger said that he has kept his promise on tax cuts, which is the main reason the House and Senate could not come to an agreement to pass a comprehensive new state budget in 2025.
Page supports the House Republican budget proposal to slow future income-tax cuts, which Berger considers a tax increase. A majority of House Democrats voted for the Republican-written House budget last year.
Page dismissed the significance of cutting income-tax rates, pointing to other changes lawmakers have made on taxes.
“You’re saying you cut people’s taxes in half, and people still feel like they’re paying a lot of money. You just shifted the responsibility to sales tax and other things,” Page said.
Who’s more Republican?
Berger also sees himself as better at representing Republicans and is quick to try aligning Page with Democrats. Page changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in the 1990s. Berger has sought to tie Page to Democrats, from funding to budget policy.
“I think one of the ironies of this — well, I don’t know if it’s an irony or not, because he used to be a Democrat — but one of the interesting things about this is a lot of the rhetoric you hear from (Page’s) camp is basically a repeat of what we’ve heard from Democrats in Raleigh,” Berger said.
“And so, the people probably should be asking themselves, do they want someone to represent them that is talking about things that are consistent with what Democrats have been pursuing? Rockingham County has been a strong Republican county for a number of years,” Berger said.
Page disagrees, seeing himself as the more conservative candidate of the two.
“I am a conservative and I have conservative values. And I look at my opponent, and when I see gambling expansion, gaming expansion, I hear the marijuana revenue conversation, I hear about the taxation. I hear about several things. I’m going like, how are those conservative values?” Page said.
Berger has supported bringing a casino to Rockingham County as well as legalizing medical marijuana. Neither have come to fruition in the legislature.
Page said Berger listens to corporate interests because of his campaign donors.
“But with me, I listen to the people. The difference between me and my opponent is I listen to the citizens, and that’s why I’m more in tune in the community, and he isn’t,” Page said.
Millions of dollars in attack ads
Berger’s campaign raised $2.4 million by the end of 2025, according to campaign finance reports, with thousands more coming in the past few weeks from Koch PAC, the NC Senate Majority Fund and individual donors. By contrast, Page brought in $45,000 by the end of 2025.
Political action committees and “dark money” PACs, for which the donors aren’t public, are also behind campaign ads on both sides. And those ads have added to the “very contentious” nature of this primary, voters told The N&O.
“Both sides want to win. I think there’s a personal basis that that is behind some of the rhetoric that’s out there that probably has been simmering for a number of years,” Berger said.
Berger said he has heard some complaints about the attack ads against Page.
“I think it’s important for people to understand that I can’t coordinate with those folks. I can’t tell them to do or not do something. And so while my preference would be the ads that we’ve run in my campaign — if you look at all of the ads and all of the printed material that includes a ‘Paid for by Phil Berger,’ by the Phil Berger Committee — it’s been positive about what we’ve done, about some of the things that we support, that my opponent doesn’t support,” Berger said.
“All of the stuff that has created the negativity has been supported by outside groups or funded by outside groups,” he said.
WUNC News reported that a group called NC True Conservatives, run by a Republican consultant, raised $2.8 million for attack ads against Page, which were produced by former Berger staff, and that the group is funded by the Good Government Coalition, which in turn is funded by the Republican State Leadership Committee. Another group running ads, American Conservative Fund, is based in Virginia and gets funding from a sports betting operator, WUNC reported.
Berger says that Democrats are funding Page through dark money groups.
He said that this primary campaign “has validated for me, in many respects, the things that we’ve done over the years, because the Democrats are fighting so hard to defeat me that we must be doing something right.”
Page doesn’t mind if Democrats are donors.
“I’m sure someone could be a Democrat and make a donation, without any question. ... You hope they’re making it for the right reason, but when a person makes a donation to my campaign, it’s because they believe in what I’m doing, believe in what I stand for, and they support me,” Page said.
“You represent everybody in that district. It’s just like sheriff. When I’m elected — I run as a Republican, but when I’m elected sheriff, I serve everybody. If you call me for assistance or my people for assistance to respond, we don’t care what your party is. We care about making you sure you’re safe and you’re protected.”
Galey, Trump didn’t persuade Page to drop out
Adding to the drama was a visit last fall from a sitting Republican senator from a neighboring county to Page’s home just before candidates filed to run for office. Sen. Amy Galey of Alamance County visited Page’s home on election filing eve, surveillance video shows, and dropped off a letter pleading with him to leave the race, in part so Berger had more money to spend on other Senate campaigns.
“I was surprised when I heard about it,” Berger said last week. “(Galey’s) concerns are overblown. We get past the primary, we’ll go ahead and raise the money to fund the fall campaign, so we’ll be fine.
“In the past, I have not gotten too involved in too many Senate primaries, except to the extent that once someone is a member of our caucus, they have a commitment from me that they have my support if they want it,” he said.
Page said Galey had attempted to dissuade him before, and he didn’t want to talk to her. The nighttime visit to his home “was mighty crass,” he said.
President Donald Trump offering him a job if he left the race didn’t dissuade Page, either.
Page said he felt “pretty good” that while Trump endorsed Berger, he complimented Page at the same time and offered him a job.
“You don’t generally get a call from President Trump at your house at night and offer you a job,” Page said. But it wasn’t enough to get him to hand the race to Berger.
Borrowing a line from Trump, Page said if voters send him to Raleigh, he plans to “drain the swamp.”
Critics of Berger have posted that lobbyists have been out at polling places campaigning for Berger.
Berger’s Senate spokesperson was there with him on Tuesday — as a volunteer, she said. Asked about staff and lobbyists at polls, Berger said, “They are volunteers.”
“We’ve had a lot of people volunteer to tell voters that they support what I’ve done, that they support the policies that I’ve pursued. So they are here on a volunteer basis. I’ve not asked any of them to do any of the campaigning that that’s been done,” Berger said Tuesday.
Page defends handling of jail
Some criticism of Page during the primary has come over deaths in the county jail he oversees, which caused Rockingham County to lose its insurance. Page acknowledged that jail staff “missed some checks” related to the deaths by suicide in the jail.
“It’s not an anomaly for people to die in jail. ... Our personnel were doing their job. They may have missed some checks and stuff, but it was no criminal involvement. Policy-wise, yes, they may miss some checks, and we dealt with that,” Page said.
He addressed an attack ad featuring the mother of a man who died in jail.
“Yes, he’s supposed to be watched, but he died because of a self-inflicted injury. The only person I can’t protect you from is yourself. We don’t have the manpower to have somebody sit and watch you 24/7,” he said.
Page said the sheriff’s office is working on improving inmate checks, training, supervision and mental health support.
Page also said he has not heard anything recently from the State Bureau of Investigation. The agency is investigating a vending machine account scrutinized by the county commissioners, including Berger’s son, Commissioner Kevin Berger, The N&O previously reported.
Will they vote for each other in the primary?
Page said he won’t vote for Berger if he’s on the ballot in November.
“I cannot support someone who did not denounce attacks on myself, my family, my character, my integrity. I can’t support somebody would do that. I would be a total hypocrite, and I’m not a hypocrite,” Page said.
Will Berger vote for Page?
“I’m a Republican. I’ve been a Republican all of my life. I support Republican candidates,” he said.
Berger said he hasn’t really thought about who might succeed him as Senate leader if he loses. That caucus election wouldn’t happen until the end of this year. And Berger will still be president pro tempore for the legislative session this year, as his term doesn’t end until December.
Some lawmakers, if they lose a primary or a leadership position, leave office early. Berger promises he won’t. If Berger loses to Page, he’ll finish out his term, he said.
“I made a commitment to the people of Rockingham County and to the members of the caucus that I was going to serve out my term, and that’s what I intend,” Berger said.
Voters will decide his political future in a few days.
This story was originally published February 27, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "As voters decide their political futures, what Berger and Page say about heated race."
