RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger confirmed plans Tuesday to seek reelection to his chamber seat in 2026, days after his home-county sheriff said he’d run for the seat regardless of whether his fellow Republican would seek it again.
Longtime Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page announced last week that he would vie for the 26th Senate District seat held by Berger. The day before, Berger told reporters that he enjoyed the legislative work but didn’t want to “prejudge any decision” about his political future, especially with the candidate filing period more than nine months away.
On Tuesday, however, Berger told another group of reporters that “my intent has been all along to run again.”
“I intend to run. I intend to continue to be the senator from the 26th District,” he added.
The decision appears to set up a Page-Berger GOP primary in March 2026 in the district, which covers all of Rockingham County and part of Guilford County. The primary winner would likely take on a Democrat in the general election the following November for a two-year term. The primary fight could open the door for a Democrat in a district where Berger won this past November with just 54% of the vote.
Berger is curently in his 13th two-year term in the Senate and has been the only Senate leader since Republicans took over the chamber in 2011. One of the state’s most powerful politicians, Berger is considered a top architect of state government’s rightward shift on matters such as taxes, education and social issues.
The conflict between Page, who was first elected sheriff in 1998, and Berger gained attention in 2023 when Page and allies visited the Legislative Building to oppose an attempt by Berger and others to increase the number of casinos in the state in part by allowing one within Rockingham County. The casino effort failed.
Page, who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2024, said last week that local residents should have had more say over any casino. Page also said that public safety would be a top issue for him in a Senate race.
Asked on Tuesday about the prospects for casino legislation in 2025, Berger said “it is not something that I’m working on” and “I don’t think it’s something that will see the light of day as far as the legislative session that we’re in.”
The position of Senate leader — known as the Senate president pro tempore — is chosen by all 50 members in the chamber every two years.