Berger and Page camps trade accusations as deadline looms for election challenges
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Berger alleges wrong ballots and both campaigns accuse each other of contacting voters.
- County certified Page winner by 23 votes; Berger has until noon to request recount.
- State Board certification and recount results are both due March 25.
On the eve of North Carolina’s deadline to request a recount and challenge ballots from the primary election, the campaigns of Senate leader Phil Berger and Sam Page are trading allegations.
Tuesday is the deadline to file election protests, which are complaints about misconduct that a candidate argues could have affected the outcome of an election. Neither candidate had filed any as of Monday evening, but both sides are floating accusations with little detail so far.
County officials certified election results on Friday, showing that Page, who is sheriff of Rockingham County, defeated Berger, one of the most powerful politicians in the state, by 23 votes in the Republican primary for Senate District 26. The district includes Rockingham and Guilford counties.
Tuesday at noon is the deadline for Berger to request a recount, and 5 p.m. Tuesday is the deadline to file election protests. The State Board of Elections doesn’t certify results until March 25, which is also the deadline for recount results.
On Monday, Berger’s campaign said it asked Guilford County to investigate claims from some voters that they were given the wrong ballot — one that did not include the Senate District 26 race.
“A voter in SD-26 reached out and said he was given a ballot that did not include the SD-26 primary and that he knew of one other voter who had told him about the same experience,” Jonathan Felts, a Berger recount spokesman, said in a statement. Felts also accused the Page campaign of contacting voters about their ballots.
Guilford County elections officials told The N&O on Monday evening that “the Berger campaign has relayed concerns. We have encouraged them, as we would any candidate, to bring forward any legitimate concerns that they may have as an election protest,” noting the Tuesday deadline.
Patrick Sebastian, who is Page’s post-election adviser, in turn accused the Berger campaign of contacting voters about their ballots.
“In a desperate attempt to cling to power after being rejected by voters, Phil Berger is questioning the very election system he put in place. Voters should never feel pressured by a defeated candidate to say something that isn’t true,” Sebastian said in a statement.
Sebastian said the Page campaign is still considering what, if any, election protests to file by the Tuesday deadline.
This story was originally published March 16, 2026 at 7:52 PM with the headline "Berger and Page camps trade accusations as deadline looms for election challenges."
