North Carolina sheriff to seek state Senate seat now held by powerful Phil Berger

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North Carolina President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, R- Guliford, Rockingham, speaks after he was re-elected to the position at the Legislative Building, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward, File)

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Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page expresses support for the immigration-related bill during a state Senate judiciary committee hearing at the Legislative Office Building on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera, File)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The longtime sheriff in North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger’s home county said Thursday he plans to run for Berger’s seat next year.

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, who competed unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2024, said he’ll run for the state Senate regardless of whether Berger seeks a 14th two-year term, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported.

Page, who was first elected sheriff in 1998, and Berger, considered one of the most powerful figures in state politics, were already GOP political rivals in their county north of Greensboro.

The conflict gained attention when Page and others visited the Legislative Building in 2023 to lobby against attempts by Berger and others to increase the number of authorized casinos in the state in part by permitting one within Rockingham County. The effort failed as House and Senate Republicans couldn’t reach an agreement.

Page told the newspaper that local residents should have had more say over any casino.

“I think that when you bring up bills that definitely appear to be controversial, you need to be open and communicate with the public that you work for,” Page said Thursday, adding that the effort in 2023 “was kind of just thrown on the citizens.”

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Berger was first elected to the Senate in 2000. As the only Senate leader since the Republicans took over the chamber in 2011, Berger has been a chief architect of the state’s right-leaning shift on taxes, education and social issues.

Should Berger seek reelection, he and Page would compete in a March 2026 primary. The general election would be the following November.

Asked about Page’s candidacy on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Senate Republican Caucus referred to Berger’s public comments on Wednesday in response to a question about whether he’d run again.

Berger told reporters that the candidate filing period didn’t begin until this December, “and I continue to enjoy what I get to do.” He also said he didn’t want to “prejudge any decision that really doesn’t have to be made until later in the year.”

Berger’s 26th Senate District covers all of Rockingham County and part of Guilford County. The 50-member Senate selects the leader -- known as the Senate president pro tempore -- every two years.

Page, who finished fifth in the 11-candidate 2024 Republican primary for lieutenant governor, said public safety is his top issue, which includes combating the opioid crisis and fentanyl epidemic.

Page is a previous president of the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association and is now on the National Sheriffs’ Association Border Security Committee. He’s been a longtime supporter of President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border policies.