Senate leader Phil Berger says he’s going to run for another term as the senator for Rockingham and rural Guilford counties.
“My intent has been, all along, to run again,” Berger said during a post-session gaggle with reporters on Tuesday. “I felt that the appropriate thing would be to make the announcement of that closer to the filing period. But I intend to run; I intend to continue to be the senator from the 26th District.”
Berger’s comments came five days after Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page told Raleigh’s News & Observer that he intends to run for the District 26 seat.
The twin announcements mean that if both men hold to their present intentions, there will be a Republican Party primary in the district in the spring of 2026.
Berger, 72, has been in the Senate since 2001, and the leader of the chamber’s Republican caucus since 2005. He became president pro tem when the GOP gained a legislative majority in 2011.
He has been in a competitive primary before, surviving in 2002 after the Senate’s then-dominant Democrats double-bunked him with fellow GOP Sen. Bob Shaw. Berger got nearly 53% of the vote
Page, 67, has been Rockingham County sheriff’s since being elected to the job in 1998. He sought the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor last year, but finished fifth in a statewide primary, garnering a bit more than 10% of the vote.
The sheriff in 2023 spearheaded local opposition in Rockingham County to Berger’s unsuccessful attempt in that year’s General Assembly session to get legislators to legalize non-tribal casinos in North Carolina.
Possible casino development on a site in Rockingham County along U.S. 220 between Stokesdale and Madison figured heavily in the debate.
Berger argued that a new casino that opened in Virginia near Danville just across the state line was undermining North Carolina’s ban; Page argued for maintaining the status quo.
The Senate leader on Tuesday reiterated that he’s not expecting a legalization bill to “see the light of day” in this year’s session.
Fundraising-wise, Berger starts with a massive advantage over Page. He raised $3.9 million in the 2023-24 election cycle and finished 2024 with $214,959 left in the bank after channeling most of his money to other Republicans.
Page raised just $87,748 for his statewide campaign last year and by the summer had none of it left. He has yet to open a Senate campaign committee.
