It's 5.05. Good Wednesday morning to you. And thanks for listening to the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.
Well, it was a very busy night in North Carolina politics primary election day. We spent a lot of time talking about that yesterday. And we now have unofficial results. I'm going to preface that as we begin our conversation on this Wednesday morning, as all results that we're going to be talking about are deemed unofficial. And that will be the case at least until next Friday when the county canvas takes place.
We'll be talking to some of our experts over at the John Locke Foundation and CarolinaJournal.com in the coming days about some of the races, some closer than others. But again, just to note, all results are unofficial as of this morning. Let's start off at the top of the ticket on both the Democrat and Republican side of the aisle. A major U.S. Senate race coming to the state of North Carolina later this year.
And well, the two frontrunners for both the Democrat and the Republican Party were successful in winning their elections last night. Former Democrat governor Roy Cooper and former head of the RNC, the Republican National Committee, and the North Carolina Republican Party, Chairman Michael Watley. Both of these races called very close to after when results started being released, which was actually delayed until 8.30 p.m. last night. It wasn't long after that, about 15, 20 minutes before most major news outlets and publications called the race for both Watley and Cooper.
We'll start on the Democrat side of the aisle. Roy Cooper, a handed election victory last night, pulling in 92% of the Democrat vote with over 758,000 votes. The former Democrat governor has spent a long time in elected office as a public official here in North Carolina. This is what he had to say to his supporters last night.
So guys We know we've got our work here. And it's just beginning. We have a long way to go until November. Hey. But if you want change in Washington, do you?
This campaign is for you. If you want to toss out the DC insiders, do you? This campaign is for you. You know, if you just think things cost too much, do you? This campaign is for you.
I've never been in a race that this crucial for the people of North Carolina and for our country. And I need all of you. to get this job done. That's former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper last night at his election night victory party. You heard this is the race for you, some of his talking points on that.
And it wasn't long into his comments that he turned his attention to his Republican challenger in November in Michael Watley. My opponent, who just won his primary tonight, Is an out-of-touch DC insider and big oil lobbyist who's only looking out for himself. and his well-connected friends in Washington. He has pushed schemes that raise health care costs. make communities less safe.
and make life harder and more expensive for working families. How out of touch is Michael Watley? While your costs go up Michael Watley says prices are down. When your local law enforcement needs more funding to make communities safe, Michael Watley supports Doge cuts that take money away from them. Yeah.
When you wish you could afford your health care premium, Michael Watley celebrates a bill that makes it cost even more. It's dead wrong, and it's got to change. Let me tell you who I'll be. I'll be a strong independent senator. who will work with this president when I can.
and stand up to him when the people need me to. I will always, always put the people of North Carolina first. before politics, before party. The people of North Carolina will be my total focus as I serve in the United States Senate. I work with anyone, anywhere, from any party to help make our state better.
and to make stuff cost less. Because Really, what's the point of holding office if you aren't focused every day on how to get something done for the working people who need it? There is no doubt about it. We have a long and difficult road ahead. But even during these tough times, those of you who know me know this is true, I am filled with hope.
We have a real opportunity here to return our government in Washington to the people where it belongs. Together. with the help of everybody here. and those watching at home. We will lower costs for working families and win this seat in the United States Senate.
That is a former Democrat governor Roy Cooper recapping, pulling in 92% of the vote in the Democrat primary last night as it stands with unofficial election results. All 2,600-plus precincts in North Carolina fully reporting a little over 758,000 votes for the former governor. Turning our attention to the other side of the aisle now, as I mentioned, Michael Watley, a handed election night victory as well, with the former head of the North Carolina Republican Party and RNC winning his primary pretty quickly as well. 64.6% of the vote for Watley. That equates to a little over 404,000 votes across the state of North Carolina.
His closest challenger, the individual who ran the closest campaign to Watley, is an individual by the name of Dom Brown.
However, he was unsuccessful last night, pulling in just a little over 15% of the vote, just shy of 100,000 votes. That race is well with that.
Well, outside of the bounds of any sort of a recount territory or anything like that.
However, the results do remain unofficial this morning. The former head of the North Carolina Republican Party talked about some of the next steps as this race turns towards November. Tonight is an important night. Republican voters from across the state are united. Because the stakes for North Carolina are too high.
It's a state of Idaho. And tonight We begin the next chapter of this campaign together. Because this election is bigger than a primary. This election is a choice. A choice between leadership that stands with working families Or a choice for career politicians who prioritize radical special interests from California and New York.
A choice between safer communities. or politicians who protect criminals and illegal aliens to appease radical left-wing groups. a choice between supporting the men and women in uniform who protect our interests and allies around the world. or politicians who vote to deny essential military funding, leaving America weak. A choice between a conservative champion for North Carolina who will be an ally for President Trump and the Senate.
Or A champion for the failed policies of the left. Not too dissimilar from the comments from Roy Cooper. It wasn't long into Michael Watley's comments either that he turned his attention to the former governor. You know, for eight years Roy Cooper had a choice. Stand with law abiding families or give in to the radical left.
And for eight years, Roy Cooper sided with the radical left. It was Roy Cooper who marched with Antifa and BLM while our cities were burning in 2020. It was Roy Cooper who signed an executive order. Forcing cash was failed and pre-trial release into our criminal justice system. Creating a revolving door that put violent criminals back on the streets again and again and again.
And it was Roy Cooper who released more than four thousand prisoners. including pedophiles, rapists and murderers, back into our communities. Among those on Cooper's list were 51 inmates serving life sentences. and to Carlos Brown Jr. who went on to murder Irena Zorovska right here in Charlotte.
Law enforcement warned against it. Families worried about their safety. Roy Cooper did it anyway. Roy Cooper sided with criminals in North Carolina communities and paid the price. And even though these speeches were right after primary election results last night, you can already see how this race is setting to begin to take stage with the partisan attacks back and forth between the Republican and Democrat winner.
Michael Watley also highlighted that he is moving on to November as well and laid out how he sees this race. North Carolina did not just choose a nominee. You chose a direction. The campaign built on safe communities, strong families, economic opportunity and putting North Carolina first. I will work every day to earn the trust of every North Carolinian who wants safer streets, affordable living and a stronger future.
Tonight is not the end of a campaign. Tonight is the beginning of a movement. A movement to restore common sense leadership. a movement to stand with working families instead of criminals. a movement to make North Carolina safer.
stronger and more affordable. Our state's best days are still ahead. And together, We're going to win in November. Those are the comments of former RNC chairman and head of the North Carolina Republican Party, Michael Watley. He will be facing off against the former Democrat governor of the state, Roy Cooper.
As we have talked about now for many months, this is expected to be an incredibly contentious, expensive, and busy Senate race making its way to the state of North Carolina as we continue through the year 2026. It's not immediately clear exactly how quick both of these campaigns will take off and turn their opportunities towards their opposite party counterparts coming up later this year. It is something that we are going to be keeping a very close eye on over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. And of course, as we get much closer to November, we'll bring you polling details, the amount of money being spent on advertising, fundraising totals, all of that. We'll bring it to you right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
It's 22 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM WBT as we continue a busy program this morning, continuing coverage of North Carolina's primary election taking place last night. We turn our attention to another race that we have been highlighting over the last couple of weeks. That is North Carolina's Senate District 26. Talking about the North Carolina General Assembly this morning with Republican voters split across Rockingham and Guilford County have delivered an extremely close result in the primary election between Senate leader Pro Tem Phil Berger and Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page.
Unofficial, and I will highlight this, making sure that you are very aware of this in this race in particular. Unofficial election night results show that the Rockingham County Sheriff is leading the longest-serving president in the North Carolina Senate by just two votes. Yes, two votes. County election officials may change that margin as they review provisional ballots and complete that county canvas process over the next nine days because the difference is falls because of that. If the difference falls within North Carolina's 1% recount threshold, which in all likelihood will do, the losing candidate will likely request a recount once the officials certify those results.
And when you look at the results from the North Carolina State Board of Elections, you see 50.00% to 50.00% between Page and Berger. Sam Page ending the night again unofficially with 13,077 votes compared to Berger's 13,075 votes. A razor-thin election in a very important race. Which pitted Berger, one of the most powerful figures in North Carolina government, against Page, a longtime county sheriff who mounted the most significant primary challenge that the Senate leader has ever faced. The winner of the Republican primary will automatically advance to the November 3rd general election.
And he is expected to face Democrat nominee Steve Liu King in a rematch of the district's 2024 race, in which Berger won by about 13%. Phil Berger, an attorney and Republican legislator, first elected to the North Carolina Senate back in the year 2000, has represented the district in its various forms for more than two decades. He has served as the leader of the North Carolina Senate since 2011, making him one of the most powerful figures in state government with influence over legislative priorities, committee assignments, and budget negotiations. His challenger and Sam Page has served as the Rockingham County Sheriff for a similar amount of time that Berger's been in the General Assembly going all the way back to 1998. He is a graduate of Reidsville High School and served in the United States Air Force, the U.S.
Air Force's security forces before beginning his law enforcement career. Page has led the Rockingham County. Sheriff's Office for more than two decades and has been active in statewide law enforcement organizations. Back in 2024, he sought the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, ultimately finishing fifth in a multi-candidate primary. The race also did draw some national attention as well when former President Donald Trump endorsed Berger during the primary campaign.
In a statement posted to social media, President Trump praised Berger's record in advancing conservative priorities in the North Carolina Senate and urged Republican voters in the 26th Senate District here in North Carolina to support his reelection. Broader political discussions about redistricting and Republican strategy ahead of the 2026 midterms surrounded the endorsement. Berger had denied any connection between Trump's backing and legislative action late last year on congressional maps. The Senate leaders have rejected suggestions of political arrangement. Still, the endorsement underscores the unusual level of national interest in what would typically be described as a low-profile state legislative primary.
Page said he spoke with Trump before. The endorsement was announced, during which Trump offered him a position in his administration if he chose not to run.
However, the Rockingham County Sheriff publicly stated that he declined that offer, telling Trump that he believed he could be more effective serving the residents of all of Rockingham County and the northern portion of Guilford County. With Page saying, I appreciate the opportunity, but I believe I can be more effective serving the people of District 26. With the national attention and major leadership implications, the race drew unusual financing investments for, again, a state legislative race. The latest campaign finance report shows that from the onset of the 2025 primary cycle through February 14th, Berger's campaign and outside groups supporting his re-election bid, get this, spent more than $8.6 million. Yes, you heard that correctly on a primary in North Carolina's 26th Senate District, $8.6 million spent by Berger's campaign and outside groups in comparison.
Page's campaign raised approximately $81,000 over the same period of time, according to some recent campaign file reports. Dr. Andy Jackson, who is the director of the John Locke Foundation Civitas Center for Public Integrity, told Carolina Journal the unusually close contest highlights the political and financial costs of defending a seat, saying, quote, I think a win gives Berger more relief than joy. It will keep Berger in office, but it comes at a cost. The money that he and his allies spent on this race is money that will not go to help other Republican candidates in the general election.
Berger entered the primary facing a more competitive environment than we have seen in past cycles. As some Republican voters throughout that district expressed frustration with legislative leadership during this year's state budget negotiations, which have shown out ongoing disagreements between the North Carolina House and Senate over spending priorities, prolonging the process and fueling criticism from activists who argued that GOP leadership has not delivered a timely final budget. Separately, lingering debates over prior efforts to authorize casino expansion, including a proposed site in Rockingham County, that was a couple of years ago, continued to draw scrutiny from some grassroots conservatives throughout the state. Lawmakers ultimately removed the casino provision from the final state budget a few years back, but the proposal generated significant local opposition, public meetings, and criticism from party activists. who argued the proposed the proposal conflict with some conservative principles.
This race is within a two-point margin. If you're just two, excuse me, a two-vote margin, I should say. If you're just joining us, Sam Page, the Rockingham County Sheriff, with all of the unofficial election result the night results in, has beat Phil Berger by just two votes, 13,077 to 13,075.
However, it is important to note that there are likely outstanding provisional and quite a few male ballots likely in that district. It is going to be very interesting to watch that over the coming days as those two county board of elections meet and go through whatever outstanding ballots are in that race. And once again, important to know, any race that is within a 1% difference is eligible for a recount.
So that is also a real possibility in North Carolina's 26th Senate District. We will be keeping a very, very Close eye on this race in the coming days over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, and right here on the Carolina Journal NewsHour. It's 5:38. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9. WBT continued coverage of last night's primary elections across the state of North Carolina.
Turning our attention now to the first congressional district that is in the northeastern half of North Carolina, where a rematch is set to take place in that congressional election between Republican Laurie Buckout and current Representative Don Davis, who is the Democrat serving the first congressional district. Buckout defeated her Republican challengers in last night's primary, beating state senator Bobby Hoenig, Carter County Sheriff Asa Buck, Attorney Ashley Nicole Russell, and Lenore County Commissioner Eric Rouse. With the unofficial results, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Buckout finished the night with 39.5% of the vote, followed by Asa Buck at 34.4%, Hoenig at 6.5%. 16.5%, Eric Rouse at 5.3%, and Ashley Nicole Russell at 4.4%. Buckout took to social media to thank her supporters, saying, Quote, I'm grateful to the voters across eastern North Carolina who rallied behind our campaign tonight.
Republicans are unified and ready to send a fighter to Washington. She will face the same general election opponent that she ran against in 2024. That is current sitting Congressman Don Davis, where Davis won that race with 49.5% of the vote compared to Buckout's 47.8%. That was a margin of just over 6,000 votes in November of 2024.
However, there have been some changes during the 2025 long session of the North Carolina General Assembly. State lawmakers not only redrew, but approved new congressional maps, making significant changes to the political makeup of the state's first congressional. Congressional district and improving Republican competitiveness. As part of the redraw, Wilson, Wayne, Greene, and Lenore counties were moved into the district with Beaufort, Craven, Pamlico, Carteret, Hyde, and Dare counties being moved as well. Buckout used her primary night victory to highlight what she claims is in action of Davis in Congress, saying, quote, Don Davis has spent his time in Congress doing little for this district while voting for the largest tax hike in American history and siding with Washington insiders instead of eastern North Carolina farmers, workers, and small businesses.
So a race that was very closely contested back in 2024. We will be seeing a rematch of that with Republican Lori Buckout. She'll be facing a Democrat, current sitting Democrat Representative, Don Davis, in the first congressional district. That is seen, by the way. As the only toss-up race in North Carolina's congressional delegation, we'll be keeping a close eye on this race as well as we head deeper into the year.
Well, it was a bad night to be some incumbents across the state of North Carolina last night. There's no other way to put it. Many high-level Republican incumbents and Democratic incumbents defeated in the primary election. We'll start at the top of the list in North Carolina's House District 65. That is where Representative Reese Purtle lost to Attorney Seth Woodall, 57 to 39.
Interesting to note in that contest, House District 65 is in Rockingham County. That is where we were discussing just last segment the razor-thin race between Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page and the president of the North Carolina Senate in Phil Berger. Reese Purtle, the representative on the House side for that district, losing pretty handedly to Attorney Seth Woodall in House District 65. In House District 65, Representative Keith Kidwell, a long-serving member of the General Assembly, lost to Darren Armstrong 52 to 48. In House District 111, Representative Kelly Hastings lost to political newcomer Caroline Easton, 54-46.
In House District 118, Representative Mark Pless, that's out in the western half of North Carolina, lost to Jimmy Rogers, 55 to 45. Most a 10% gap on that race there. And in North Carolina's Senate District 34, appointed incumbent Republican Chris Meismer lost to Kevin Crutchfield, 54 to 46. Miesmer had been appointed to the seat in 2025 after the resignation of Senator Paul Newton. All those races on the Republican side of the aisle.
There were some on the Democrat side as well. Three Democrat incumbents also losing their primaries after facing challengers from the party's left flank. which each having recently drawn criticism from Democrats for occasionally siding with Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly on key votes. We'll start off in the 23rd House District where Representative Shelly Willingham lost to Patricia Smith 56 to 44, a pretty sizable margin there. In House District 99, Representative Majeed lost to Valerie Levy 69 to 26.
That is a blowout of an election there. And a similar situation happening in Mecklenburg County, House District 106, where Representative Carla Cunningham lost to Rodney Sadler 70 to 22. That is a major primary election defeat for Cunningham. Sadler had received the endorsement from a Democrat governor, Josh Stein, after Cunningham voted to override Stein's veto of House Bill 38, which was known as the Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act. Act.
Cunningham had been at odds with party leaders over some of the legislation coming out of the North Carolina General Assembly during the long session last year in 2025. Representative Cunningham was also one of the individuals who levied a petition to recall Mecklenburg County Sheriff Gary McFadden. With that, she handedly losing her primary election 70-22. And then, of course, the big race that we will continue to follow, the razor-thin margin between Sam Page, the Rockingham County Sheriff, and the leader of the North Carolina Senate in Phil Berger. Taking a look at some of the other contests we are following, keeping our attention in Mecklenburg County, a four-way primary for the sheriff and with Gary McFadden, who has received a lot of criticism over the last couple of months.
Well, it would appear that McFadden is likely to stay in his position as he won with 34% of the vote, followed by his closest challenger, Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Sergeant Ricky Robbins with 31% of the vote. Rodney Collins, former chief deputy under McFadden, came in third with 27% of the vote, and former detention center officer Antoine Nance had 8% of the vote. When it was all said and done, McFadden finished with a little over 33,000 votes. Robbins, a 30,700, Collins, a 26,500, and just 8,200 votes for Nance, the former detention center officer who was the The final in that contest. Obviously, you know and are well aware of the controversy surrounding McFadden.
Back on January the 5th, a petition was filed against him to remove him from office for attempted extortion, corruption, willful misconduct, and maladministration of office, as well as willful and habitual refusal to perform his duties in office. That under North Carolina state law, an elected sheriff can be removed only through a court process and if those allegations are proven true.
However, that petition was dismissed without prejudice. That could come back and be relevant in the future, meaning that McFadden's critics could try again on a new complaint. It was just a couple of weeks ago that a House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform featured McFadden and other Charlotte and Mecklenburg County officials dealing with crime in the city and the county. A lot of the attention on the light rail killing of Irina Zarutska, jail deaths, and opposition. Opposition to new state criminal justice law.
It was a very contentious hearing with Representative Brendan Jones, the Republican from Columbus County, who's also the chairman of the oversight committee, grilling McFadden literally for hours over his record, with most of the back and forth being McFadden claiming. He could not answer many of the comments or really any of the questions that were asked to him by state lawmakers due to an ongoing SBI investigation due to some of the comments made in that recall petition, which, as I noted, did include Democrat Representative Carla Cunningham. McFadden does continue to have a major, does continue to have these major controversies over his head. We will watch as these results, again, are unofficial, but it appears pretty clear this morning that McFadden was successful in that primary with 34% of the vote. It was a four-man race, pretty close results at the top, 34% to 31% for his next closest challenger.
We'll be keeping an eye on that race, the canvas process, and any outstanding provisional ballots right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour and over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Taxis was feeling so stuck. Sitting in traffic, squeezing into a parking spot. All to squeeze in getting tax help during your lunch break.
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It is 5:53. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour as we continue on this busy Wednesday morning, the morning after primary election results here across the state of North Carolina. I will note once again: all results are unofficial and will remain unofficial for the next nine days as we approach the county canvas process that is set to take place next Friday. Funny enough, Friday the 13th of all dates, in which all 100 county board of election offices will go through the process of certifying and finalizing races. At that point, any races that are within a 1% threshold will be eligible if requested for a recount.
We will be keeping a very close eye on a few of these races that we've covered this morning over the next couple of days as we watch that process play out. Quick recap of where we sit this morning: Roy Cooper, the former two-term governor here in North Carolina. North Carolina, the Democrat running in the U.S. Senate primary had a handed election night victory with the former governor picking up 92% of the vote in that contest. Over 758,000 ballots cast.
Roy Cooper will head to the general election, and he will be battling against the former head of the North Carolina Republican Party and RNC Michael Watley, who also won on election night by nearly 50%, 64% for Watley, compared to just 15.5% for Don Brown, who was his strongest challenger in that race. Multiple candidates running in that multi-white primary. Watley with the successful election night victory. It will be Watley v. Cooper in what is anticipated to be one of the most hotly contested and potentially even most expensive United States Senate races that not only North Carolina has ever seen.
But the nation may have ever seen. We will keep a close eye on that in the months to come. In the first congressional district, Lori Buckout was successful, beating Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck, current member of the North Carolina General Assembly, Bobby Hoenig, Lenore County Commissioner Eric Rouse, and attorney Ashley Nicole Russell. Buckout was the Republican primary winner in that similar race back in 2024. She battled up against Don Davis in the general election, losing to Davis by only a little over 6,000 votes.
So we will see a rematch of the race that we saw in November of 2024 in North Carolina's first congressional district. It's going to be an interesting one to watch, especially as state lawmakers went through the process of redrawing both the first and third congressional districts back last year to make the first more competitive for a Republican to try and edge out one additional seat. In Congress and as part of North Carolina's congressional delegation, that race is going to be an expensive one as well. We'll keep an eye on that. And then, probably, what is the most interesting race of the night?
A two-vote gap between Rockingham County Sheriff and the longest-serving president pro tem in North Carolina General Assembly history, Phil Berger. A very interesting primary taking place in Rockingham in the northern half of Guilford County between Berger and Page. And with the unofficial, again, I'll highlight again: the unofficial election results in Page is leading Berger by just two votes. There is still provisional ballots that will likely have to go through the process of being approved or denied. Any sort of mail-in election ballots that were turned into the county board of election offices by 7:30 p.m.
last night, that is what state law mandates as this race will likely, not guaranteed, but. Likely fall within that 1% recount threshold, whether it is Page on top or Burger on top. Excuse me, this is going to be a very interesting race to watch. Berger has been in the North Carolina General Assembly since 2000. He's been the leader of the Senate since 2011.
And in Rockingham County, Sheriff Sam Page has served in that position going back to 1998. Comprehensive coverage of last night's primary election results available this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That's going to do it for a Wednesday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour. We're back for you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 WBT.
