(The Center Square) – Republican county sheriff and challenger to North Carolina’s 15th-year leader in the state Senate is battling a campaign finance investigation.
The fellow GOP senator he seeks to replace is battling the governor of California. And that’s a Democrat hoping to land his political career at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. succeeding a two-time Republican commander in chief.
Get your popcorn, buckle in for redistricting fights, and get ready to ride into the midterms of 2026 and the race to the White House in 2028.
Monday’s very public spat between state Sen. Phil Berger, president pro tempore since 2010 and in his 13th term on Jones Street, is tied to a redistricting fight and majority rule in the U.S. House of Representatives. It started in Texas, got inflamed by presidential hopeful Gov. Gavin Newsom in California, and was joined Monday by Berger and Republican House Speaker Destin Hall of Caldwell County in North Carolina.
These potential congressional redistricting map redraws – 11 states have some level of engagement – are aimed at the 2026 midterms. In the U.S. House, there are 219 Republicans, 213 Democrats and three vacancies. California’s portion is 43-9 Democrats; Texas is 25-12 Republicans; and North Carolina 10-4 Republicans.
Missing from the barbs is Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, the challenger to Berger in District 26 that encompasses Guilford County in addition to Berger’s home in Eden. Page didn’t make it out of the Republican primary for lieutenant governor last year, finishing fifth of 10 with 10% of the votes.
And on Oct. 7, the State Bureau of Investigation confirmed a probe of campaign finance records. Page says he’s reported as required for three decades; the Rockingham County Board of Elections says it doesn’t have them prior to 2017 as the State Board of Elections says it should, a time period before all the current Rockingham staff became employed.
Nonetheless, Page says the “political theater” won’t deter his quest to unseat Berger. Nor is Berger showing signs of giving in to the local fight or the one fought across the country.
“The pathetic legislative leaders of North Carolina haven’t even passed a budget,” Newsom wrote on social media Monday. “And what are they busy doing? Rigging the next election for Trump. Their priorities are clear – bend the knee to Trump, screw over North Carolina. Remember that.”
For which, Berger replied on Tuesday, “Gavin, your budget is a fiscal dumpster fire – $24 billion deficits and borrowing millions to cover Medi-Cal for illegal immigrants.”
Couple of fact checks are worth noting. North Carolina does not have a budget as required by July 1 every two years via state law. Yet, unlike a portion of California if there is no budget, there is no shutdown of government courtesy of a Republican trifecta in July 2016 enacting law to keep the same spending plan in place if a budget is not on time.
At the 2010 midterms Republicans for the first time in 140 years gained majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, with North Carolina carrying a deficit of between $800 million and $1.2 billion. The turnaround of roughly $6 billion sent the state’s surplus to more than $5 billion prior to Hurricane Helene, and budget negotiations include replenishment to that level.
California’s legislative analyst’s office estimated a $68 billion deficit for the 2024-25 fiscal year; other sources pegged it at $12 billion. Spending is up, revenues are down and the state has experienced a loss of just under 1.5 million people this decade.
“There’s a reason why millions of people are fleeing California – high taxes, sanctuary cities, violent crime,” Berger wrote on social media. “Fix your state, Gavin. We’ll continue making North Carolina great!”
A pledge pending the ability to withstand those nipping at his heels at home.
