Berger/ Page Primary Result

Primary night resulted in a stalemate. Sam Page leads Phil Berger by two votes.

This means there are three additional sets of ballots that still need to be examined to be potentially counted toward the final total: provisional ballots, mail ballots that need to be “cured”, and overseas/military ballots. The provisional and mail ballots will be examined and/or counted before the end of the week. The deadline for overseas/ military ballots is March 13 (i.e., next Friday).

This exposes a major defect in North Carolina’s election law. We ought to be able to have a definitive winner on Election night. This is somewhat of a mess.

Page won by a landslide in Rockingham County. This is a humiliating repudiation for Berger given the fact that this is his home county. The people of Rockingham County know Page and did not buy into all of the misleading, slanderous television advertising. This outcome ought to lead to some introspection on Berger’s part.

Berger won decisively in Guilford County where voters did not know Page nearly as well.

The Rockingham County voters likely had the casino proposal in the forefront of their minds. But there are other big issues with regard to Berger’s record— especially passing Medicaid expansion and the failure to restrict abortion more after the repeal of Roe v. Wade. His moves taken in Summerfield to aid David Couch’s development proposal also has been a matter of concern. In addition, Page made an issue of Berger failing to bring lots of jobs to Rockingham County even though he is the most powerful man in the state.

Remain mindful that Berger has done many good things since the Republicans won the majority in the General Assembly 16 years ago. The Republicans lost their de facto veto-proof majority last night; and losing Berger would set them back further.

Page seems to feel that the provisional ballots will land in his direction. I don’t know what the final outcome will be.

In the event Page truly wins the race, we don’t know what his voting record will prove to be because he has never held a comparable position.

But one thing seems clear. If this race ends up in litigation, Page is at a distinct disadvantage because Berger can muster the funds to pay for the best lawyers.