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Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger on Tuesday requested a recount in his primary against Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, according to the State Board of Elections.
Page leads Berger by 23 votes—a difference of 0.08 percentage points.
The next step is for the State Board of Elections to direct the elections boards in Guilford and Rockingham counties to perform a machine recount, which should be completed during open meetings before the state canvass on March 25. The canvass is the process by which the NCSBE certifies results and confirms that counties properly tabulated all votes.
Page said he’s confident his lead will hold.
“We won this election because the voters of Guilford and Rockingham counties made their decision clear,” Page said in a statement. “Phil Berger has the right to request a recount, and I’m confident it will confirm the outcome. We won.”
There is also the possibility of a second recount in which a sample of precincts would be subject to a hand-to-eye recount. Depending on the results from that sample, a full hand recount could be triggered.
After that, the race could still be decided in court. Both campaigns appear prepared for a potentially lengthy battle, as they say they’ve created legal expense funds. Berger’s has received $1,000 from the NC Senate Majority Fund Building Fund, records show.
Berger’s campaign has announced it retained Republican election lawyer Phillip Thomas to offer assistance as votes are reviewed. Page’s campaign has hired Alicia Jurney, a family law attorney from Cumberland County.
Berger spokesman Jonathan Felts said that if the lawmaker decided to lodge any complaints about the election, they would announce it Tuesday. Berger’s campaign has until 5 p.m. to file formal election protests with the NCSBE alleging that violations of election law, irregularities, or misconduct affected the results of the election.
In his request for a recount, Berger told state elections officials he was concerned about 220 possible ballots, which he sees as having potential to sway the outcome. Berger argued that there were 3 “overvotes,” i.e. ballots with votes for both candidates, and 217 “undervotes,” or ballots with no vote in the race. When asked for clarity on what wrongdoing Berger was alleging, Felts referred back to the letter and to the NCSBE.
The legislative primary has already seen unprecedented spending. Berger and a pair of outside groups supporting him spent more than $8.6 million through mid-February and had another $2 million in the bank at the time. Page’s campaign had spent less than $55,000 at that point.