Berger-Page Election Fight Cost $13.6 Million

Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger spent a staggering sum on his unsuccessful reelection bid earlier this year. 

Berger’s campaign and outside groups supporting him spent more than $12.6 million trying to fend off Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page ahead of the March primary and waging a brief legal battle after Page won. 

The total far outpaces the roughly $943,000 spent to elevate Page, new campaign finance reports show. And it underscores how Republicans tried to preserve the legacy of the Senate leader, who is arguably the state’s most powerful officeholder.

David McLennan, a Meredith College political scientist, said contentious state legislative races usually cost somewhere in the ballpark of $2 million in a general election. 

“Phil Berger and his team recognized they were in for a fight and raised and spent money as if they were running a statewide election,” McLennan said. “They knew Sam Page was going to be a major player and pulled out all the stops.”

Indeed, the amount spent to keep Berger in office after more than a decade leading the Senate was roughly in line with the $15.7 million Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley’s campaign and victory fund accounts raised through March. The figure doesn’t include outside spending bolstering Whatley.

Page, Berger, and Whatley’s campaigns didn’t respond to requests for comment. 

Berger Bucks

The bulk of spending in the race came from NC True Conservatives, a pro-Berger group run by longtime GOP consultant Lawrence Shaheen, which poured more than $7.2 million into the race. Nearly all of it came from the Good Government Coalition, which is largely funded by the Republican State Leadership Committee. Berger is on the RSLC’s executive committee, according to their website.

Berger’s campaign was the next biggest spender, contributing more than $3.2 million. The Citizens for NC Jobs Action PAC was next, spending nearly $1.3 million supporting the Senate leader. That group’s treasurer, Jake Cashion, oversees lobbying, advocacy, and political efforts on behalf of the NC Chamber of Commerce.

The American Conservative Fund, which is based in Virginia and funded by out-of-state gambling interests like DraftKings, spent more than $820,000 to support Berger’s reelection. 

After Page won the March primary, Berger created a legal expense fund to reverse Page’s narrow lead at the end of primary night. That effort was largely bankrolled by the NC Senate Majority Fund Building Fund. Berger accumulated more than $75,000 in legal bills.

Building fund donors included Charlotte healthcare executive Michael Estramonte, who founded the Katie Blessing Foundation. Estramonte and his wife, Alana Craycraft, each gave Berger’s legal fund $5,000. 

Jimmy Clark, a member of the UNC System Board of Governors, and Marty Kotis, secretary of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, each gave $10,000 to Berger’s legal fund.

Berger dropped his election protests and conceded to Page three weeks after the primary, saying “the voters have spoken.”

Pay to Page

The Guilford-Rockingham Alliance and Piedmont Accountability Coalition spent the most to oust Berger. The groups were responsible for $453,500 and almost $300,000 in spending, respectively. Page’s campaign spent more than $74,000 to challenge Berger and another $116,000 on legal and consulting expenses to defend his victory. 

The heaviest spending to elevate Page came from the Leadership for America Fund, which gave $300,000 through the Guilford-Rockingham Alliance and isn’t registered with the Federal Election Commission. Its filings with the State Board of Elections list its address at a FedEx ShipCenter mailbox in Oklahoma City. 

The Safeguard Liberty PAC, which is based in Virginia, contributed $85,000 through the Guilford-Rockingham Alliance. FEC documents show the group has only had two donors in its history: Oklahoma residents David Chaney and Benjamin Harris. The pair, who co–founded Epic Charter Schools, face embezzlement and racketeering charges for an alleged scheme to take in millions of taxpayer dollars intended for students.

The Piedmont Accountability Coalition got most of its money from Sheila Mikhail, an unaffiliated voter in Hillsborough who co-founded a biotech company and tangled with Berger over a bill to provide equal health insurance coverage for diagnostic and supplemental breast imaging. The measure overwhelmingly cleared the House last year but stalled in the Senate. Mikhail was also the biggest donor to Page’s legal fund, writing him a $25,000 check.

With the election in the rearview, Page and Berger have very little in the bank. Page’s campaign entered July with a little more than $17,000 in his campaign coffers. Given the political makeup of the district, he’s expected to defeat his Democratic opponent, Steve Luking, in November. Luking’s campaign began July with more than $54,000 in available cash.

Berger intends to finish out his term, which expires at the end of the year, but hasn’t shared any future political or professional plans. His campaign has roughly $40,000 left.