02/28/2026
GREAT ARTICLE.
Berger's Last Stand
It’s certainly been an interesting primary season. The NC Senate District 26 race has garnered state and national attention, quickly becoming the most closely watched contest in the state. For months, voters have been flooded with mailers, texts, calls, and a nonstop barrage of commercials, much of it emanating from Phil Berger’s well-funded dark money machine. At this point, many voters say the constant outreach borders on harassment.
Phil Berger insists his campaign is going well. Yet an unprecedented amount of money for a North Carolina primary has already been spent, with some estimating that more than $10 million will ultimately be deployed in an attempt to keep him in power. For a position that carries a base salary of just over $38,000 a year, the scale of spending is extraordinary. A recent article by former executive director of Democracy North Carolina, Bob Hall, exposes Berger’s dark money contributions flowing in from corporate and special interests: DraftKings (sports gambling), Duke Energy and Dominion Energy, Reynolds America (to***co), the NC Homebuilders Association, and national Republican powerhouses such as GOPAC and the Republican State Leadership Committee boards on which Berger serves. The influence behind those checks is hard to ignore, and voters are left to decide who truly benefits from such unprecedented investment.
Recent reports from local early voting sites reveal that Berger has enlisted help from his Raleigh circle. State legislators, lobbyists, the Senate sergeant at arms, staff members, and other establishment regulars have been spotted “volunteering” at our local polling places, holding signs and handing out flyers. Among them: Susan Fetzer Vick of the prominent lobby firm Fetzer Strategic Partners, who represented Couch during the Summerfield deannexation, also turning up as a Berger “volunteer."
What does it say about a candidate when he has to bring in his innermost circle of lobbyists, legislators, and well-connected operatives to do the work that should be done by the community itself? Are there truly no local supporters willing to put their names on the line, to step into the light and openly back him? Or has it come to this: that political loyalty now exists only in the shadows, among those with the most to gain?
Now, new reporting has raised even more serious questions. The Carolina Forward team has released documents alleging potentially illegal coordination between Senator Berger’s campaign and so-called “independent expenditure” PACs supporting him. Under North Carolina law, coordination between a campaign and an independent expenditure PAC is prohibited.
Folks, what you are witnessing is sheer desperation from the most powerful politician in the state. Berger and his circle are in full panic mode. His insider elites, financial backers, and special interests understand one thing clearly: if Phil falls, so may they. Power, after all, is only as secure as the man who holds it. And if so much of his campaign depends on his inner circle and outside money, what does that reveal about his real support among the people he claims to represent?
In stark contrast, momentum for Sam Page is growing. What began as a local grassroots campaign has persevered like the little engine that could. The ratio of donations and expenditures between the campaigns is vast, but Page’s engine has been fueled by everyday people, volunteers and small donors willing to share their time, efforts, and hard-earned money for someone and something they truly believe in. That energy is reflected in a surge of voter interest this year, with early turnout exceeding past previous participation levels. No amount of propaganda or endorsements from national figures appears capable of dampening the enthusiasm of this grassroots movement.
Has Berger made the politically fatal mistake of underestimating his voters’ memory, judgment and common sense? Will the buzzwords, catchphrases, cartoon jingles, and nonstop personal attacks actually translate into votes this primary, or are they simply ineffective propaganda? His campaign attacks professionally and personally, twists clips out of context, dramatizes and oversimplifies complex issues, and critics argue that he distorts the truth.
But campaigns built on noise and repetition can only go so far if voters are paying attention. If you are dissatisfied with the direction North Carolina has taken over the past decades, if you believe corporate and special interests should not dictate public policy, if you think government exists to represent people rather than overwhelm them with advertising and propaganda, then this primary matters.
The only real counterweight to money and machinery is participation. History reminds us that even the most fortified positions, surrounded by loyal insiders and confident in their superiority, can prove more fragile than they appear, as General Custer discovered in his own last stand. If a campaign truly reflects the will of the people, why does it require unprecedented spending, outside reinforcements, and nonstop messaging to secure a primary victory? That is a question only voters can answer.
Please exercise your right to vote. Today and tomorrow are the last days for early voting. Election Day is Tuesday, March the 3rd.
