It’s not over yet.
In unofficial results with all precincts reporting, just two votes separate the leader of the North Carolina Senate, Phil Berger, and his challenger in the Republican primary election, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page.
“We are still are in a situation where we don’t know what the result is. We have what is, for all practical purposes, a tie,” Berger told reporters at 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, long after most people had left his election watch party.
Unofficial results, with all precincts reporting, show Page winning by two votes. He declared victory Tuesday night.
However, Berger said he’s waiting to see what provisional ballots show before saying whether he’d call for a recount.
“So my understanding of the process is that we’ve got to have all of the provisionals determined. Then we’ll see what the result is,” he said.
“And I may not be the one that needs to call (for) the recount at that point. So I’m not going to say one way or the other. We’re going to continue to press this until all legal votes have been counted and we know what the result is,” Berger said.
Asked how he was feeling, Berger said “quite frankly I’m tired,” with the clock ticking toward midnight after starting the day at 5 a.m.
“This is not over,” he said of the election. “It is something that we’ve got to make sure we get all the legal votes counted and we go through that process.”
The winner of the GOP primary in the right-leaning district in Rockingham and Guilford counties will be the overwhelming front-runner to win in November.
Page maintained a slight lead — made possible by his doubling of Berger’s vote total in their home county of Rockingham. Berger said those county results were “what the expectation always was, that there were challenges on the Rockingham side, we should do well in Guilford County. That’s exactly how it played out.”
A little earlier, over in Stokesdale, Page’s supporters erupted as he walked out onto the stage at his election watch party and declared victory. “The results are in,” Page said. “We just won.”
Page said his campaign showed his constituents that “money don’t win elections, that relationships build elections.”
He thanked his volunteers and the media for showing up and added: “No to casinos, no to video gaming and expansion, and also no to cannabis revenue.”
Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page speaks to the media on primary election night, March 3, 2026, in Stokesdale, North Carolina. Nathan Collins [email protected]
Trailing earlier in the evening, Berger urged constituents to wait for more results before drawing conclusions. He added that the venue where he was holding the party needed to close at 10 p.m.
As people left the venue, the race tightened even more, well within the 1% threshold required to mandate a recount.
For races that are not statewide, candidates can demand a recount if the difference between two candidates’ votes is 1% or less of total votes cast.
Berger and Page, both Republicans, have been reelected by voters in their home county of Rockingham for more than 25 years each. Senate District 26 borders Virginia and also includes parts of Guilford County, but not the city of Greensboro.
Relying on the money and allies that go along with a powerful position in his party and in the General Assembly, Berger’s campaign and political action committees supporting him have spent millions of dollars on the contentious race.
N.C. Sen. Phil Berger, an Eden Republican and the most powerful state lawmaker, center, checks early election results with supporters during a primary election night watch party in Reidsville, in Rockingham County on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. Berger is running against Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. The district also includes part of Guilford County. Travis Long [email protected]
Berger’s campaign raised $2.4 million by the end of 2025, according to campaign finance reports, with thousands more coming in the past few weeks from Koch PAC, the NC Senate Majority Fund and individual donors. By contrast, Page brought in $45,000 by the end of 2025. The Assembly reported that latest spending shows Republicans may spend as much as $10 million on Berger’s race.
On billboards, mailers and other ads trying to appeal to Republican primary voters, Page was attacked for problems at the sheriff’s office he runs, while Berger was criticized for becoming too much of a Raleigh insider.
Serving out their terms
Berger and his supporters gathered in Reidsville, while Page and his supporters gathered in Stokesdale, closer to Guilford County.
Berger walked around tables greeting guests, including Republican Sen. Bill Rabon, who is the powerful Senate Rules chair; Sen. Amy Galey, a Senate whip; former state Sen. Kathy Harrington; and Berger’s sons: Phil Berger Jr., a N.C. Supreme Court justice, and Rockingham County Commissioner Kevin Berger, as well as daughter Ashley and wife, Pat.
Guests dined on “Burgers for Berger,” as described on a sign with Berger’s photo and the words “Lettuce celebrate all your hard work.”
Around 9 p.m. as more and more results rolled in favoring Page, Berger and key supporters left the room.
Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page speaks to the news media at a primary election night watch party at Oak Level Baptist Church in Stokesdale, North Carolina, on March 3, 2026. Nathan Collins [email protected]
At Page’s election watch party at the Oak Level Baptist Church’s gym, volunteers set up fruit and cheese plates as they waited for Page to arrive before polls closed. He joined the group before results were announced, taking questions from the news media and photos with his supporters.
With the early votes in, Page and his supporters felt pretty good — evident by the cheers as the numbers refreshed on the state’s election website.
“You see the numbers,” Page told a News & Observer reporter. “I felt like I felt earlier today, I felt like people were turning out to support us, that people want change and people want support and people are supporting me, and I appreciate it.” He says he hoped to see the trend carry on through the night.
Whatever happens Tuesday, Page says one thing’s for certain come Wednesday:
“I go back to work to continue serving our citizens all the way through the end of November,” Page said. “I made a contract with the people, and I’m going to finish that contract.”
Berger, too, told The N&O that regardless of the outcome Tuesday, he’ll finish out the rest of his current term, which ends in December.
“I made a commitment to the people of Rockingham County and to the members of the caucus that I was going to serve out my term, and that’s what I intend,” Berger said.
Volunteers set up at Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page’s election watch party at Oak Level Baptist Church in Stokesdale, on March 3, 2026. Nathan Collins [email protected]
How Berger, Page campaigned
Both candidates spent time greeting voters at the polls during more than two weeks of early voting.
Berger said his main pitch to voters in Rockingham and Guilford counties is “effectiveness.”
“I don’t think there’s any question that the person that has been selected as the leader of the Republicans in the Senate for a number of years, and the leader of the Senate, is going to be a more effective voice for local people than someone who is a freshman,” Berger said last week.
As Senate president pro tempore since Republicans took control of the legislature in 2011, Berger has the final say on what bills come to the floor for a vote. He’s been in the Senate since 2000, when Democrats held control.
Berger has also campaigned on lowering income taxes, which Republicans have long championed. House and Senate Republicans, after years reducing income tax rates, have been fighting over how quickly to lower them in 2027 and future years. The individual income tax rate in North Carolina was lowered to 3.99% this year, down from 4.25% last year.
On the campaign trail, Page has supported the House Republicans’ budget proposal and said if voters send him to Raleigh, he’ll “drain the swamp.”
Both candidates have received praise from President Donald Trump, but only Berger won his endorsement. Trump endorsed Berger in December, at the same time he praised Page and offered him a job to drop out.
Page stayed in the race, and says he’s the better candidate because he’s more “in tune with the community” compared to Berger. Page also opposed Berger and others’ proposal to bring a casino to Rockingham County — a proposal that ultimately failed.
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 9:01 PM.
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Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan
The News & Observer
Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan is the Capitol Bureau Chief for The News & Observer, leading coverage of the legislative and executive branches in North Carolina with a focus on the governor, General Assembly leadership and state budget. She has received the McClatchy President’s Award, N.C. Open Government Coalition Sunshine Award and several North Carolina Press Association awards, including for politics and investigative reporting.
