Separated by two votes, Sen. Phil Berger, Sheriff Sam Page express confidence

As Election Day approaches, the Senate District 26 Republican primary between Senate President Phil Berger and Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page has been the most talked-about legislative race in the state. A day later, he continues to demand attention.

Currently, Page leads Berger by two votes, with both candidates awaiting the outcome of military votes and provisional ballots.

“There are still votes to be counted, and the outcome is not yet determined. We need to make sure that every legal vote is counted,” said Berger, who added that he was “confident that the outcome will be positive.”

Senate District 26 includes Rockingham and Guilford counties.

Rockingham County election officials told ABC11 there were 137 provisional ballots cast in Rockingham County and 52 in Guilford County for the District 26 Senate race, although the party breakdown was unclear. Meredith College political science professor Dr. David McLennan said in the 2022 primary there were 119 military ballots held across the state.

“I’m confident. I know in Rockingham County we’ve done extremely well. And I think these provisional votes will go in our favor,” Page said.

According to unofficial results, Page won nearly 67 percent of the vote in Rockingham, while Berger won just under 68 percent of the vote in Guilford.

On Wednesday, Page held a press conference in front of the Rockingham County Board of Elections, expressing concerns about the post-election process.

“When the Board of Elections has trouble retaining records, they are required by law to maintain the integrity of those records. And we don’t know that. I worry about the integrity of the voters and the retention of those ballots,” Page said. He was referring to an earlier question regarding how the Rockingham County Board of Elections handled its campaign finance reports, which was brought to his attention last year.

Separately, his team questioned the Rockingham County Board of Elections’ decision to close its offices for part of Wednesday, saying it could have an effect on people trying to remedy provisional ballots.

“We’re asking them to extend the number of closing hours, at least extend that number of hours so people can come in and have their vote counted,” said Patrick Sebastian, who works as Page’s post-election adviser.

ABC11 spoke off-camera with two Rockingham County Board of Elections staffers, who acknowledged the office was closed Wednesday morning, but reopened in the afternoon. They added that they had already done so the day after the elections and that the decision had been made in advance. In addition, staff were on site all day and no additional closures are planned.

Page also called on State Auditor Dave Boliek to recuse himself from any role in the process, noting that he had supported and campaigned in person with Berger.

“It’s a serious concern, and I think the auditor needs to consider stepping back from his position of power to determine whether it’s really appropriate for him to get involved in this election, this post-election,” said Sebastian, who stressed that the campaign is not alleging that Boliek committed any wrongdoing.

“The State Board of Elections has published a detailed description of the process. The Office of the National Auditor has no role in this process,” said Randy Breichbel, communications director for the Office of the National Auditor.

Separately, Jason Tyson, spokesperson for the State Board of Elections, stressed that an established process is in place to protect the integrity of elections.

At the election watch party hosted by Page on Tuesday evening, he declared victory.

“Given his personality, no, I’m not surprised (he declared victory). But given the reality of the situation, it’s certainly not consistent with what’s actually happening,” Berger said.

His team continues to monitor the electoral process.

“The reality is we need to have a complete understanding of what legal ballots can be counted, and then count those ballots, see what the result is, and then we can make some decisions after that,” Berger said.

The results published on the National Elections Council website are not official.

“There are always things that happen after all the precincts report on election night, so the numbers change. Sometimes it’s relatively insignificant. Sometimes it’s by several dozen votes. March 13 is the key date for the Board of Elections to go through the certification process for all races,” McLennan said.

At this point, if the margin is less than 1%, Berger can request a recount.

“Certification may be delayed for an individual race,” McLennan explained. “They’ll appeal to the Board of Elections, and then they may ultimately take legal action in court. So anything could slow down the certification of an individual race.”

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