Politics

Rockingham sheriff inches toward upset of powerful state Senate leader

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page talks with the press outside the Board of Elections office in Wentworth on March 13 after a canvass confirmed his 23-vote Republican primary election edge over Senate Leader Phil Berger in the sheriff’s quest to replace the powerful legislator. [SARAH MICHELS/Carolina Public Press]

By SARAH MICHELS, Carolina Public Press, Published: March 16, 2026

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page sat in the third row, sporting his signature cowboy hat, as he watched the Rockingham County Board of Elections certify the official results in his Republican primary race against Phil Berger, the powerful leader of the N.C. Senate.

On election night, Page was up by two votes in the State Senate District 26 race, encompassing Rockingham County and parts of Guilford County. After election officials in both counties counted eligible provisional ballots and military and overseas voters’ absentee ballots, his lead extended to 23 votes. 

Friday morning, election board members in both counties declared Page the official winner. Talking to reporters outside the Rockingham elections office, Page did the same. 

“I’m on to November,” he said. “Great victory today.” 

However, the saga may be just beginning. 

Berger: ‘A recount is merited’

It’s possible that Berger will concede, but unlikely.

According to WRAL reporting, Berger and Page have launched legal funds, presumably in preparation for a lengthy legal battle.

“If we believe a recount is merited,” Berger told WRAL in a statement, “I will pursue that avenue as allowed by law. A lot of folks have supported me throughout my time in public service, and I owe it to them to ensure clarity of the election results.” 

“Our legal team is monitoring and evaluating this situation as election officials continue to adjudicate this process,” Jonathan Felts, a campaign spokesman, told the North Carolina Tribune. “While I anticipate we will, at a minimum, request a machine recount, no decision has been made yet.”

If Berger chooses to request a recount, he had until noon on Tuesday, March 17 to do so. 

In that case, election officials will conduct a full machine recount by re-tabulating results in all precincts. All ballots rejected by machines will be recounted by hand by a bipartisan team. The recount will happen within three business days of the request. 

After the machine recount, whoever is the second-place candidate may request a second, hand-to-eye recount. In this recount, a small sample of precincts will count ballots by hand. If the vote count changes to the extent that, if the change were extrapolated to all precincts, it would flip the outcome, election officials will oversee a third recount — a hand-to-eye recount of all ballots in all precincts. 

Election protests? 

Recounts don’t generally flip outcomes. So, Berger might look toward another method to change his outcome against Page — election protests. 

Second-place candidates may file election protests when they say some misconduct has occurred in an election, including in the way ballots were counted or the results were tabulated. 

One source of protest could be voter challenges, which were decided Friday. 

Rockingham County election board members declined to remove votes of three challenged voters, but left room for candidates to file election protests over their decisions. It’s not clear at this point how any of those voters who cast a vote in the contest between Berger and Page actually voted.

The first challenged voter, Alissa White, voted a Democratic ballot, so her vote does not impact the state Senate race.

The second voter, Wanda Bowman, caused confusion since her registration name didn’t match the name on her driver’s license. However, she had been voting since the 1990s, and the election board unanimously agreed her vote — which was on the Republican ballot — should count. 

The third voter, Linuel Troxler, died between casting his ballot in the Republican primary and Election Day. However, the election board wasn’t notified about his death until March 11, a day after the deadline to challenge voter eligibility. 

According to State Board guidance, county election boards are obligated to give voters who are thought to have died or their families an opportunity to challenge their vote removal before the results are finalized. Sometimes, there are mistakes with death certificates, Rockingham County Elections Director Paula Seamster said. 

In this case, there was no time for a hearing, so State Board staff recommended counting Troxler’s ballot. However, several members of the county elections board personally knew Troxler, and had firsthand knowledge of his death.

Republican board chair Dan Powell was one of those members. 

“Obviously things happen that fall outside the prescription of the law sometimes, and we have to use good, common sense,” he said. 

Democratic member Wally White said he didn’t feel strongly either way, particularly because candidates who objected to the board’s decision could file election protests after the fact. 

“The laws matter, and we should follow them, and the candidates have a way of fixing that for themselves if they want to,” White said. “But in this case, we know that multiple members of this board know it happened. I think we should consider our own experience beyond what we’ve been advised by the State Board.”

Ultimately, the board unanimously agreed to count all three voters’ ballots. 

Page ‘ready to move forward to November’

Page said the board explained their reasoning well. That being said, he’s prepared for Berger to file election protests. 

“Today I heard some questions, but at the end of the day, I think the questions were answered,” Page said. “We’re ready to move forward to November, and we’ll take whatever challenges come our way.”

In Guilford County, seven voters were removed from the count because they had died or been charged with a felony between the time they cast a ballot and Election Day. Since only a portion of Guilford County is part of Senate District 26, and not all voters chose the Republican primary ballot, it’s unclear how many of those voters cast ballots in the Berger-Page contest. 

While these decisions could be subject to an election protest, the 23-vote margin is greater than the number of challenged voters. 

Berger could also file election protests over decisions to count or not count provisional ballots, the method of counting or tabulating votes or any other election irregularity he may allege. 

Page had a few words for Berger, upon his apparent victory. 

“We worked hard and we played fair, and that’s what the citizens appreciate,” he said. “They don’t like dirty politics, they don’t like negative ads, they don’t like malicious conversations about a candidate. What they want to hear is what the candidate offers, and what I offer the citizens of Rockingham and Guilford County is a fresh reboot for senator that cares about the people in the district.” 

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Sarah Michels is a staff writer for Carolina Public Press specializing in coverage of North Carolina politics and elections. She is based in Raleigh. Email her at smichels@carolinapublicpress.org to contact her.