'Won't let anyone steal this': Republicans go scorched earth in race with big implications

The North Carolina Senate Pro Tempore is two votes down in a Republican primary where even President Donald Trump got involved. Now, his challenger fears GOP officials are trying to "steal" his win.

WGHP News reported that Senate President Pro Temp Phil Berger led Trump's mid-decade redistricting battle in the state, earning him the endorsement of the U.S. president in a tiny state legislative seat against fellow MAGA candidate, North Carolina’s Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page.

Page is willing with 13,077 to Berger's 13,075 votes, The Hill reported on Wednesday.

Now, however, Page is alleging corruption as one of Berger's allies is taking over the count, NC Newsline reported.

“I won’t let anyone steal this election,” Page said, alleging there were questions about the integrity of the count.

Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek was handed control over elections after a 2024 law gave the auditor control over the administration of elections.

"For nearly a century, North Carolina’s governor has had the exclusive power to appoint a majority of the state board of elections from the governor’s own party and to appoint a majority of members of county election boards. As 2024 ended, the lame-duck legislature — over gubernatorial veto — transferred that appointment power from the governor, currently a Democrat, to the state auditor, currently a Republican," the State Court Report explained last May. The state Supreme Court upheld the move.

Page is protesting the move as Boliek was campaigning for Berger just last week.

“The optics just don’t look good,” Page told Newsline in an interview. “That doesn’t give me fair and objective optics.”

He wants Boliek to recuse himself immediately.

There were 26,000 votes cast in the primary election for Senate District 26, and $10 million was spent on the campaign. It means the cost per vote was over $384.

Page also alleges there were hijinks in Rockingham County, his stronghold, where he won about 67 percent of the vote. Berger lives in Rockingham.

On Wednesday, The Assembly reported that a voting rights advocate walked up to the Rockingham County Elections Board, seeing a note on the door reading: "Board of Elections is closed today. Election is being reconcilled (sic). Please do not disturb!"

In North Carolina, people are given an opportunity to resolve issues with their ballots if they arise after the fact. For example, if they forget their photo ID, they can pop by the office any time before Friday to show it to ensure their ballot is counted. But for four hours on Wednesday, the office was closed.

"The incident raised alarms from some political onlookers in light of the still-contested primary," The Assembly said.

After the sign went viral online, the North Carolina Board of Elections directed the county to reopen.

"Paula Seamster, the county elections director, then responded to The Assembly’s inquiry, explaining that, for the past five years or so, she’s closed the county office for half a day the day after an election so that workers can upload electronic records to the state’s election management system without any distractions. She said people often show up the day after an election, hoping to vote, which can be disruptive," the report said.

Seamster promised, "There is no conspiracy.”

“We need to make sure people have the confidence that their votes are being counted and that there’s no interference whatsoever,” Page told WGHP. “And we’re not saying that there was, but you have to remove any doubt that there is an appearance of that, and you don’t help that when you’re campaigning as a member of the Board of Elections.”

The Carolina Journal noted on Thursday that there remain 189 provisional ballots that will likely determine the race. For anyone seeking to resolve the issues with that provisional ballot, they have until the end of Friday.

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