Phil Berger is the worse thing to happen to NC in the last 15 years but I’m grateful he didn’t draw the recounts out any longer . His policies have and will continue to hurt NC in the future
I do not see how anyone could have any level of "grudging respect" for Berger. He has come near to destroying democracy in NC, thumbed his nose at our Constitution (with a wink from our Supreme Court) and has unbalanced our state government. Good riddance.
I doubt he is done. He could well make a comeback in two years, as I doubt Page will amount to much. On the broader point, I mostly disagree. Beating the Berger won’t get much, but Democrats have the worst political instincts in politics. They lack meanness and ruthlessness when it matters, and that’s why they are on the cliff of irrelevance in the Assembly.
I’m glad it didn’t come down to another battle to the last stand like the Allison Riggs v. Alfred E. Neuman SC race did. But I confess, that’s what I thought would happen.
So I thank him for not making a(nother) spectacle out of a race he lost, but I won’t miss him when he’s gone. If I had any grudging respect left for him, it evaporated in November of 2024 when he and his minions sold out Western NC, using them as bait in a naked power grab. I’ll never forgive him for that, and neither should anyone else.
We’ll have to see what changes this brings to the power dynamic in the NCGA. I suspect it will be bigger than simply losing one seat in the senate. But there is a broad spectrum of ideology up in there, and without the gravitational force Berger brought to the chamber, it’ll be interesting to see how well the caucus holds together.
Ultimately, he was pushed out. There's an interesting factoid buried in The New York Times article about his concession, describing a Zoom call prior to the primary in which Thom Tillis chimed in, saying that Berger was power hungry and needed to go. There was a lot of inside baseball going on in that race, with long knives out to kill the Berger King. He finally saw the light. I personally do not believe that his seemingly dignified departure is the end of the story.
Happy he lost. But more work needs to be done to fix the harm inflicted upon NC in a lot of areas.
Phil Berger is the worse thing to happen to NC in the last 15 years but I’m grateful he didn’t draw the recounts out any longer . His policies have and will continue to hurt NC in the future
"It’s not really a patriotic party anymore."
Well said.
I do not see how anyone could have any level of "grudging respect" for Berger. He has come near to destroying democracy in NC, thumbed his nose at our Constitution (with a wink from our Supreme Court) and has unbalanced our state government. Good riddance.
I doubt he is done. He could well make a comeback in two years, as I doubt Page will amount to much. On the broader point, I mostly disagree. Beating the Berger won’t get much, but Democrats have the worst political instincts in politics. They lack meanness and ruthlessness when it matters, and that’s why they are on the cliff of irrelevance in the Assembly.
Dems on the "cliff of irrelevance" .... Berger's insane gerrymandering might have something to do with that.
Absolutely does. NC is not even a democracy anymore.
I’m glad it didn’t come down to another battle to the last stand like the Allison Riggs v. Alfred E. Neuman SC race did. But I confess, that’s what I thought would happen.
So I thank him for not making a(nother) spectacle out of a race he lost, but I won’t miss him when he’s gone. If I had any grudging respect left for him, it evaporated in November of 2024 when he and his minions sold out Western NC, using them as bait in a naked power grab. I’ll never forgive him for that, and neither should anyone else.
We’ll have to see what changes this brings to the power dynamic in the NCGA. I suspect it will be bigger than simply losing one seat in the senate. But there is a broad spectrum of ideology up in there, and without the gravitational force Berger brought to the chamber, it’ll be interesting to see how well the caucus holds together.
Yes, he and Tillis/Moore imposed an incredible amount of discipline on their caucuses. It could be a catfish for awhile. #🍿
Or catfight (d'oh)
Ultimately, he was pushed out. There's an interesting factoid buried in The New York Times article about his concession, describing a Zoom call prior to the primary in which Thom Tillis chimed in, saying that Berger was power hungry and needed to go. There was a lot of inside baseball going on in that race, with long knives out to kill the Berger King. He finally saw the light. I personally do not believe that his seemingly dignified departure is the end of the story.
The notion of Tillis calling anybody power-hungry is… amusing.
Good news, sort of.
Hooray! Berger’s out of office!