Tag Archives: N.C. Senate Leader Phil Berger

Every Vote Counts

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On Tuesday, The Daily Haymaker reported that Phil Berger had conceded in his primary election. Sheriff Sam Page won the primary election by 23 votes.

The article notes:

…Initially, he was a good counter-weight to the  left-of-center antics of House speaker Thom Tillis and governor Pat McCrory.  However, as those two moved on — it appeared Berger started to enjoy the perks of Raleigh a wee bit too much.  Berger built a machine with tentacles extending into just about every aspect of governing.  His team — not local parties — was picking candidates to run for the General Assembly.  Money became a very important ingredient to the legislative process. Eventually, all of the legislative branch’s significant decisions were being made in and around Berger’s offices. A handful of folks were often calling the shots while everyone else sat around waiting for instructions.  (In 2024, the Berger machine managed to get two of their own folks elected to the positions of state auditor and state treasurer.)

It was Phil Berger’s world.  We were just allowed to live in it — for a price. 

There is a Democrat candidate awaiting Sam Page in November.  We hear state Democrats are dumping money on this guy, and that Roy Cooper and Josh Stein have both appeared with him for photo ops.   Perhaps they are hoping they can pull off an upset in the wake of a very turbulent GOP primary.  But the district is very, very, very Republican-leaning. 

We also hear word that a search for Berger’s replacement as senate president pro tem is underway.  Of course, that only matters if the GOP holds on to its majority.  The names we’ve heard so far:  Bill Rabon of Brunswick County, Mike Lee of New Hanover, and Todd Johnson of Union County.  In our view, all three would be more of the same. The climate of fear and intimidation needs to be lifted forever from the senate chamber and the legislative buildings.  And, of course, ditch the pay-to-play. 

As a member of the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association, I have made numerous trips to Raleigh to support various issues. Phil Berger has not represented the views of North Carolina’s voters. This is a chance to make a change. We need the Senate to elect a leader with integrity who will represent the voters in the state.

The Same Rules Should Apply To Everyone

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One of the most contested races in the North Carolina primary election this month was the Republican primary race between state Senate Leader Phil Berger and Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. As of now, Sam Page has won the race by 23 votes. Phil Berger is demanding a recount (which he is entitled to). He is, however, required to play by the recount rules.

On Wednesday, The Daily Haymaker reported:

Republican state Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) was handed a setback in his election recount efforts Wednesday when the North Carolina State Board of Elections declined to take up his request for an expedited hand-eye recount of 220 ballots.

The decision comes as Berger seeks to overcome a 23-vote deficit to primary opponent Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. The request for the hand-eye examination — meaning visual review by human counters without the use of a machine — came as part of Berger’s request for a recount of the race on Tuesday, which remains ongoing.

Of the ballots Berger singled out, 217 are undervotes, in which voters appear to have not voted on a ballot item despite casting a ballot, either because they left the section blank or left an unclear marking. The other three are overvotes, ballots in which multiple candidates appear to have been selected, invalidating the vote

There is no remedy for the former if they truly are undervotes, said State Board of Elections Executive Director Sam Hayes, because the board “can’t account for something that is not there.”

Under state law, “if it is impossible to clearly determine a voter’s choice in a ballot item, the official ballot shall not be counted for that ballot item.” For ballot items where selections cannot be read by a machine, votes can only be counted if “human counters can clearly determine the voter’s choice.”

The article concludes:

Spending $12 million of other people’s money to eviscerate your opponent — and you STILL manage to lose by 23 votes. Losing your home county by 2-to-1.  (*Oh, the agony …*)

The Mustache™ is hinting that they’re planning to lawyer up and pull a Jefferson Griffin.  And why not?  It worked *so well* for the plan’s namesake.

I wonder if the party establishment will moan as loudly this time about all the damage the court fight is doing to the party?

This is something to watch carefully. Phil Berger is not going to give up his power easily.

The Power Of The Primary

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North Carolina voters have not been thrilled with their representation in Washington for a while. Thom Tillis never seems to pass up an opportunity to stab his voters in the back. Our representation in the North Carolina legislature also has some serious problems. They don’t seem to understand that eastern North Carolina is part of the state and contributes to the general welfare of the state.

On Thursday, The Daily Haymaker posted an article about the importance of primary elections. If you want to elect Representatives and Congressmen who actually represent you, you have to show up at the primary elections.

The title of the article is, “Tired of being *played* by the GOPe? Get their attention with the power of the primary.” Yes!

The article notes:

We told you earlier about how DOGE has been reduced to something being run out of the Office of Management and Budget.  Now we hear Ed Martin has been bounced out of the Government weaponization office at the Department of Justice. 

A grand total of ONE cut recommended by DOGE has passed the GOP-controlled Congress. We’veactually got elected Republicans reinstating wasteful spending the Trump White House cut via Executive Order.  We’ve got a lot of elected Republicans — including our not very smart junior US Senator — trying to sabotage the illegal alien cleanup efforts being led by ICE and DHS.

…We can’t even get Republicans in Washington to approve voter ID.

…Getting Phil Berger out of elected office would be another great grassroots victory.  According to what I’m hearing out of Rockingham and Guilford counties, that is very possible. (Berger has led the NCGOP’s transformation into an even bigger whoring-for-lobbyist-dollars operation than Basnight or Black could have ever dreamed of.)

…You’ve got a good conservative option out there in the 11th.  A guy with a great free-market name: Adam Smith.  He’s a special forces veteran and a successful small businessman.  He turned out to be one of the real heroes of the Hurricane Helene relief effort.  (You know, the operation Whatley was supposed to be running.)  

…In the US Senate race, DC and Raleigh have been trying to shove Michael Whatley down our throats.  Trump has been hyper-pissed at Thom Tillis.  Yet, his political operation is trying to replace Tillis with Tillis’s protege and preferred successor.  The DC party goons have gone overboard scaring all vendors, consultants, donors, and media away from anyone not named Whatley.  The result of all that?

…Someone slipped up and ran a poll showing Don Brown performing about as well against Cooper as Whatley is.  Brown has not been blessed with fundraising and strategy help from DC and Raleigh like Whatley has.  But he’s hanging right with The Chosen One, St. Michael of Gastonia.

The GOPe has been trying to pretend there is no primary for the Senate seat. A primary might have forced Whatley to have to answer for his sycophant protection of Tillis, and his penchant for screwing MAGA activists at every opportunity.

If you ever want to drain the swamp, you need to vote in the primary election!

Shenanigans In North Carolina

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North Carolina Senate Leader Phil Berger posted an article on Friday detailing the recent illegal actions of the North Carolina Board of Elections.

The article reports:

Meeting minutes from the Sept. 15 closed session of the State Board of Elections reveal a bombshell. The collusive settlement “negotiated” between the Democratic attorneys with the Board of Elections, the N.C. Department of Justice and national Democrats went way beyond the bounds of what the state Board of Elections had originally authorized.

At the very beginning of the meeting, Democratic attorneys falsely told Republican Board members that “privilege” forbade them from speaking to anybody about the collusive settlement. This apparent effort to muzzle the Republican members further supports the fact that Democrats went to great lengths to conceal their secret negotiations with Marc Elias.

Minutes clearly show that Board of Elections members authorized settlement terms that included keeping the witness requirement on absentee ballots and prohibiting unmanned ballot drop boxes.

But that’s not what the conclusive statement reported:

But the collusive settlement announced this week does the exact OPPOSITE of what the Board authorized. If accepted by a judge, the settlement would violate state law by allowing absentee ballots with no witness information. All the “voter” would have to do is sign a form, which also does not require a witness. That effectively eliminates the witness requirement.

The article lists the things that collusive statement would approve:

1. Permit anonymous outdoor absentee ballot drop boxes. The law forbids anybody other than a voter or a voter’s near relative from delivering an absentee ballot and requires the Board of Elections to record who returns every ballot. But the collusive consent order filed today allows outdoor “absentee ballot drop-off stations” and says, “a county board may not disapprove a ballot solely because it is placed in a drop box.” The Democratic-controlled Board was kind enough to require signs on the drop boxes that tell ballot harvesters they’re not really supposed to use them.

2. Eliminate witness requirements for absentee ballots. State law requires one witness to sign an absentee ballot and legibly include his or her name and address. But the collusive consent order submitted today effectively eliminates that requirement. If an absentee ballot is submitted without the required witness information, the Democratic-controlled Board of Elections will just mail a form to the address to which the ballot was sent, and the form can be returned with no witness information. The form can be returned nine days after the election.

3. Extend the time period in which an absentee ballot can be received by the Board to nine days after the election. State law requires absentee ballots to be received no later than three days after Election Day. This is to allow for a timely vote count and eliminate the possibility of “finding” enough “new” absentee ballots to sway the outcome of the election. But the collusive consent order unilaterally rewrites state law to provide nine full days of uncertainty and opportunity for gamesmanship after Election Day.

This is an invitation to election fraud and needs to be stopped in its tracks.