Is Phil Berger really vulnerable?
Published 3:22 p.m. Wednesday
The king of North Carolina is facing a challenge to his rule. Phil Berger’s long-term control of state government has produced a surge of discontent. This frustration, widely felt in his district, has resulted in a primary challenge from Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. The fundamentals of the race suggest that Berger faces a genuine risk of defeat.
Berger represents the prototypical MAGA district. Located near the Virginia border, the district is economically hard-pressed and predominantly rural. Communities there have suffered the loss of a number of major employers, with a large brewery threatening to close down in recent years. This social decline has created widespread feelings of bitterness and dispossession.
The grim mood in Rockingham County explains a lot about Berger’s politics. While conservative, Berger’s main political orientation is “anti-left.” Berger aggressively attacks people and institutions whom his constituents feel have betrayed, ridiculed, and disrespected rural communities. The main targets of his rage-campaign have been members of the liberal intelligentsia. Berger is deeply hostile to schoolteachers and has made something of an obsession out of attempting to destroy UNC-Chapel Hill. Berger’s constituents want vengeance, to strike back at the censorious elites, and Berger has spent 15 years delivering that satisfaction to Rockingham.
But the resentment that’s so widespread in Berger’s community has another component. Residents of struggling mill towns like Rockingham County feel intense anger at the culturati, but they are equally enraged at political elites. That’s why establishment Republicans like Jeb Bush and Nikki Haley failed as badly there as did recent Democratic presidential candidates. MAGA voters feel mocked by the elites, but they feel betrayed by the political establishment. Their rage is equally intense on both fronts.
This returns us to Berger. For 15 years, Berger has maintained the posture of an aggrieved outsider. The act has grown ludicrous. In reality, Phil Berger is by far the most powerful person in North Carolina, with long tentacles intertwined with the levers of power at every level. Three of his own children hold prominent public offices. Berger is powerful and arrogant, practicing a kind of political imperialism wherein he attempts to conquer every domain of state and local government. This aggression reached an outrageous extreme last year when Berger tried to force the state to approve a casino located next to a summer camp for disabled children.
Surveys from Public Policy Polling indicate that this overreach has backfired on the King. Berger’s constituents are angry and open to throwing this autocrat out. Their anger at elites, so long utilized by Berger to maintain a dominant majority, has become trained on the man himself, and 2026 could be the year that ends his formidable reign over our state.
Berger represents the prototypical MAGA district. Located near the Virginia border, the district is economically hard-pressed and predominantly rural. Communities there have suffered the loss of a number of major employers, with a large brewery threatening to close down in recent years. This social decline has created widespread feelings of bitterness and dispossession.
The grim mood in Rockingham County explains a lot about Berger’s politics. While conservative, Berger’s main political orientation is “anti-left.” Berger aggressively attacks people and institutions whom his constituents feel have betrayed, ridiculed, and disrespected rural communities. The main targets of his rage-campaign have been members of the liberal intelligentsia. Berger is deeply hostile to schoolteachers and has made something of an obsession out of attempting to destroy UNC-Chapel Hill. Berger’s constituents want vengeance, to strike back at the censorious elites, and Berger has spent 15 years delivering that satisfaction to Rockingham.
But the resentment that’s so widespread in Berger’s community has another component. Residents of struggling mill towns like Rockingham County feel intense anger at the culturati, but they are equally enraged at political elites. That’s why establishment Republicans like Jeb Bush and Nikki Haley failed as badly there as did recent Democratic presidential candidates. MAGA voters feel mocked by the elites, but they feel betrayed by the political establishment. Their rage is equally intense on both fronts.
This returns us to Berger. For 15 years, Berger has maintained the posture of an aggrieved outsider. The act has grown ludicrous. In reality, Phil Berger is by far the most powerful person in North Carolina, with long tentacles intertwined with the levers of power at every level. Three of his own children hold prominent public offices. Berger is powerful and arrogant, practicing a kind of political imperialism wherein he attempts to conquer every domain of state and local government. This aggression reached an outrageous extreme last year when Berger tried to force the state to approve a casino located next to a summer camp for disabled children.
Surveys from Public Policy Polling indicate that this overreach has backfired on the King. Berger’s constituents are angry and open to throwing this autocrat out. Their anger at elites, so long utilized by Berger to maintain a dominant majority, has become trained on the man himself, and 2026 could be the year that ends his formidable reign over our state.
Alexander H. Jones is a Policy Analyst with Carolina Forward. He lives in Carrboro. Have feedback? Reach him at alex@carolinaforward.org.
