COME INTO PLAY HERE. BUT THE FACT THAT THIS IS A HUGE WIN FOR HIM. EITHER WAY, THE FACT THAT THE SENATE MAJORITY LEADER IS IN A RACE WHERE IT IS WITHIN TWO VOTES IS IS IS THIS IS NOT JUST NEWS FOR THE TRIAD. IT’S NOT JUST NEWS FOR NORTH CAROLINA. IT’S NEWS THAT THE REST OF THE COUNTRY WILL BE WATCHING THIS. THIS HAS HUGE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE POWER DYNAMICS IN NORTH CAROLINA. WE ALWAYS EXPECTED THIS TO BE A CLOSE RACE. IT WASN’T CLOSE IN THE MONEY SPENT AS WE HEARD THERE. THE MONEY SPENT WAS OVERWHELMINGLY ON THE ON THE ON THE FAVOR OF BERGER BUT CLOSE IN THE FINAL ELECTION. AND THE FACT THAT WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING THIS OVER THE EVENING AS SAM PAGE WENT OUT FOR UP TO A LONG LEAD AND THEN PHIL BERGER GENERALLY CHIPPED AWAY AT THAT AS GUILFORD COUNTY PRECINCTS CAME IN. WHAT A DRAMATIC NIGHT FOR WATCHING OF ELECTION RESULTS IN NORTH COUNTY FOR A MIDTERM PRIMARY. THIS IS ABOUT AS IMPORTANT AND AS DRAMATIC AS IT GETS. AND PHIL BERGER, WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ENDORSEMENT. YEAH, PHIL BERGER HAD THE MONETARY ADVANTAGE. HE HAD THE ADVANTAGE OF HIS POSITION IN OFFICE. HE HAD HIS ADVANTAGES MOST RECENTLY WHERE REEVALUATIONS ARE COMING IN IN GUILFORD COUNTY. HE SAID, I CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. AS THE LEADER OF THE STATE SENATE, HE HAD ALL THOSE ADVANTAGES. AND YET SAM PAGE IS NOT WITHOUT HIS OWN ADVANTAGES. AS A LONG STANDING SHERIFF OF ROCKINGHAM, AS HE SAID THERE, I HAVE BUILT UP A LOT OF RELATIONSHIPS IN ROCKINGHAM AND IN THIS AREA, AND HERE WE ARE WITH BASICALLY A NECK AND NECK RACE. THIS IS THIS RACE WILL CONTINUE AS PROVISIONAL BALLOTS ARE COUNTED. WE ARE CLEARLY WITHIN THE REALM OF A RECOUNT IN THAT SENSE. SO WE DON’T KNOW THE OUTCOME OF THIS TONIGHT. AND I’M SO GLAD THAT YOU BROUGHT THAT UP, BECAUSE WE HEARD SAM PAGE DECLARE VICTORY. OBVIOUSLY, HE IS THRILLED. AND YOU COULD ARGUE NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, THIS IS A TREMENDOUS MOMENT FOR HIM AND HIS CAMPAIGN AND HIS METHOD OF CAMPAIGNING. A SHOE LEATHER GRASSROOTS KISSING BABIES, KNOCKING ON DOORS, KIND OF A CAMPAIGN THAT HE RAN. BUT THIS IS NOT OVER. PHIL BERGER HAS NOT LOST. SAM PAGE HAS NOT WON. THESE ARE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS. MANY VOTES LEFT TO COUNT. WHEN MIGHT WE KNOW THE WINNER, JOHN? AND WE WILL SAY THERE WAS CERTAINLY A CONTRAST IN THE ADDRESSES OF THE TWO CANDIDATES HERE SO FAR. WE HEARD FROM SENATOR BERGER EARLIER, AND IT WAS A VERY DIFFERENT TONE, A VERY HUMBLE TONE, A VERY TONE OF LACKING IN CONFIDENCE. AND THEN WE JUST HEARD SAM PAGE VERY MUCH KIND OF EXPRESSING CONFIDENCE. THAT BEING SAID, THIS IS A NECK AND NECK RACE THAT IS NOT OVER. AND FOR NO ONE CANDIDATE IS IN A POSITION TO DECLARE VICTORY. YES. YOU’D RATHER HAVE BE TWO POINTS UP OUT OF THIS. THOUSANDS OF VOTES CAST THAN TWO POINTS DOWN. BUT THAT WILL CHANGE. OR THAT, PUT ANOTHER WAY, THAT IS OPEN TO CHANGE. AS WE START COUNTING PROVISIONAL BALLOTS, AS RECOUNTS WILL TAKE PLACE. HOW LO
This North Carolina Senate race is separated by only two votes | NC Senate 26 Page vs. Berger results
Updated: 12:00 AM EST Mar 4, 2026
It’s a race drawing national attention, and that’s the North Carolina Republican primary for state Senate District 26. >>>Get the latest Primary Election Results here.The battle is a heated one and too close to call, and is only separated by two votes. Sam Page, first elected as Rockingham County’s sheriff in 1998, serving for the past 28 years, is challenging Phil Berger, who has spent the last quarter century as a state senator and the last decade and a half as Senate president. Berger, who represents all of Rockingham and part of Guilford County in District 26, has run unopposed in the last six Republican primaries and nine of the last ten. He is currently serving his 13th term.Page declared himself the unofficial winner of the Senate 26 race on Primary night. “We just won,” Page said to supporters. “There are still votes to be counted, but we won, on to November. Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you,” he said. Berger also spoke to supporters Tuesday night. “We always knew that the potential existed for this to be close. I think you can say this is close,” Berger said. “This is not over,” he said, “Every vote is important.”Just how important are those votes? Check out a breakdown of how voters cast their ballots in both Guilford and Rockingham counties. MORE FROM THE CANDIDATES ELECTION RESULTSGet results from all key races below. Click the county to find races for each city and town.US SENATE (NC) | US HOUSE (NC) | NC SENATE | NC HOUSE | COURT OF APPEALS | DISTRICT COURT JUDGES | COUNTY-BY-COUNTY | ALAMANCE | ALLEGHANY | CASWELL | DAVIDSON | DAVIE | FORSYTH | GUILFORD | MONTGOMERY | RANDOLPH | ROCKINGHAM | STOKES | SURRY | WILKES | YADKIN RELATED COVERAGE WXII 12 News is committed to providing fair and balanced coverage of the 2026 elections in North Carolina. Stay up-to-date with the latest on local, state and national political headlines by clicking here.Keep up with the latest news and weather by downloading the WXII app here.
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. —
It’s a race drawing national attention, and that’s the North Carolina Republican primary for state Senate District 26.
>>>Get the latest Primary Election Results here.
The battle is a heated one and too close to call, and is only separated by two votes.
Sam Page, first elected as Rockingham County’s sheriff in 1998, serving for the past 28 years, is challenging Phil Berger, who has spent the last quarter century as a state senator and the last decade and a half as Senate president. Berger, who represents all of Rockingham and part of Guilford County in District 26, has run unopposed in the last six Republican primaries and nine of the last ten. He is currently serving his 13th term.
Page declared himself the unofficial winner of the Senate 26 race on Primary night.
“We just won,” Page said to supporters. “There are still votes to be counted, but we won, on to November. Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you,” he said.
Berger also spoke to supporters Tuesday night.
“We always knew that the potential existed for this to be close. I think you can say this is close,” Berger said. “This is not over,” he said, “Every vote is important.”
Just how important are those votes? Check out a breakdown of how voters cast their ballots in both Guilford and Rockingham counties.
MORE FROM THE CANDIDATES
ELECTION RESULTS
Get results from all key races below. Click the county to find races for each city and town.
US SENATE (NC) | US HOUSE (NC) | NC SENATE | NC HOUSE | COURT OF APPEALS | DISTRICT COURT JUDGES | COUNTY-BY-COUNTY | ALAMANCE | ALLEGHANY | CASWELL | DAVIDSON | DAVIE | FORSYTH | GUILFORD | MONTGOMERY | RANDOLPH | ROCKINGHAM | STOKES | SURRY | WILKES | YADKIN
RELATED COVERAGE
WXII 12 News is committed to providing fair and balanced coverage of the 2026 elections in North Carolina. Stay up-to-date with the latest on local, state and national political headlines by clicking here.
Keep up with the latest news and weather by downloading the WXII app here.