Trump endorsement wasn’t enough to tip the scales for Senate leader Phil Berger
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Trump endorsement wasn’t enough; Berger lost by 23 votes.
- Trump offered Page a Washington job; Page declined and defeated Berger.
- Berger’s 25+ years and leadership role didn’t secure his primary win.
Senate leader Phil Berger represents a heavily Republican district on the North Carolina border with Virginia, where about 26,000 people voted in the March primary that led to his loss by just 23 votes.
Despite the district’s relatively small electorate, his defeat — which he accepted on Tuesday — carries significant state and national ramifications, with his departure leaving a power vacuum next year at the legislature.
Because of this, the local race drew attention well beyond the state, including from President Donald Trump, who endorsed Berger in December. Trump also offered Berger’s challenger, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, a job in Washington, which Page declined.
Trump often touts his success rates with endorsements, including recently touting a 100% success rate in last week’s Illinois primaries in a post on Truth Social. And that’s often the case. His endorsements in Republican primaries are often decisive. They are coveted within the GOP.
“Sometimes the presidential endorsement has been helpful,” Berger told reporters last fall. “I think in primaries, in many Republican circles, if President Trump is supportive of someone, a lot of the voters feel very strongly about that being a positive thing.”
But this time, it wasn’t enough to tip the scales in Berger’s favor.
Nor was Berger’s longstanding influence. First elected to the Senate in 2000, Berger has served for more than 25 years and has been president pro tempore since 2011, when Republicans gained control of the General Assembly. Several members of his family also hold prominent roles in North Carolina. Page has been the sheriff in Rockingham since 1998.
The other 11 candidates Trump endorsed in North Carolina’s primary this month all won, most of them incumbents who were heavily favored, The News & Observer previously reported.
Berger endorsed after backing Trump’s agenda
Trump endorsed Berger in December in a Truth Social post, writing that Berger is “an America First Patriot, who is doing an incredible job representing North Carolina’s 26th Senate District.”
Berger has been “helping us deliver massive and historic victories across the state ... As Senate leader, Phil is fighting tirelessly to grow the economy, cut taxes and regulations, advance MADE IN THE U.S.A., unleash American energy dominance, champion school choice, support our great military, veterans, and law enforcement, keep our now very secure border secure, stop migrant crime, and protect our always under siege Second Amendment,” Trump wrote.
This endorsement came two months after North Carolina’s GOP-led legislature heeded a call from Trump to draw more GOP-friendly congressional districts. The GOP redrew an Eastern North Carolina district held by Democratic Rep. Don Davis. Berger had also backed Trump on legislative priorities, such as federal Medicaid changes.
After receiving Trump’s endorsement, Berger said he was “honored.”
“We are both fighting to improve the lives of North Carolinians, standing up to the woke, leftist policies that hurt working people and mock their values,” he said in a statement.
With the endorsement in hand, Berger spoke at a December rally Trump held in Rocky Mount, within the redrawn district.
The phone call from Trump
Meanwhile, Trump asked Page, who served as Trump’s North Carolina campaign chair in the 2020 election, to drop out of the race.
In his Truth post endorsing Berger, Trump said Page “is GREAT, he has been a longtime supporter, but I really want him to come work for us in Washington, D.C., rather than further considering a run against Phil — Both are such outstanding people!”
But Page did not drop out. He posted a statement on social media that while he appreciated Trump’s “kind words and his offer to have me join him in Washington,” Page is “committed to upholding conservative values here in North Carolina and ending the corruption and liberal policies Phil Berger has pushed for years. I will defeat Phil Berger on March 3.”
Page told The N&O in an interview a week before the primary election that he felt “pretty good” about Trump complimenting him, even though Berger got the endorsement.
“You don’t generally get a call from President Trump at your house at night and offer you a job,” he said during an interview in Madison.
Page said he was eating dinner one night in December and received an incoming call from a number he didn’t recognize. He dismissed the call because he was still eating dinner, but the caller tried again. He answered that time, and the caller said: “The president would like to speak to you.”
Page said he “figured somebody was trying to pull one on me,” so he told him to call back later. Page went home, they called again, and Page put it on speakerphone for his wife to hear, still thinking it was a joke.
But then Trump came on the line.
“I said, ‘What’s going on? What can I do for you, Mr. President?’”
Trump talked to Page about the U.S. Senate race between Republican candidate Michael Whatley and former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, the sheriff said. Page said he told Trump that Cooper is well-known and well-funded. He said Trump then talked about Berger and the redistricting that fall that had created a more favorable congressional district for Republicans.
Page went on to say that Trump told him he would endorse Berger, but “he wanted to help me, too. He wants to support me, too.” That’s when Trump offered Page a job in Washington, but with no details, he said.
“I listened to him, and I told him” about Page’s support for Trump’s campaign in 2020, he said.
Page said he was flattered and still supported Trump, but in a follow-up call with a Trump “political guy” said that he had already filed to run and was committed.
This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 2:36 PM.
