A top North Carolina lawmaker who suffered a stunning upset in his primary election last month spoke publicly about the result Tuesday, blaming the loss on political opponents across the aisle. 

North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger — who has led the chamber since 2011 — lost the Republican primary for his seat to Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page by 23 votes, one of the closest elections in state history. Berger conceded defeat in a March 24 statement after a machine recount and partial hand recount yielded no change in Page’s lead. 

Berger discussed the experience with reporters Tuesday after lawmakers convened for a short legislative session in Raleigh. Asked what message voters sent him in the primary, Berger said: “Democrats like to vote in some Republican primaries. That’s the message.”

Berger didn’t elaborate on his explanation. Registered Democrats are only allowed to take Democratic ballots in primary elections. But unaffiliated voters are allowed to participate in a party primary of their choice. Berger didn’t suggest changes to that law, but he mentioned possible examination of other election laws. 

He said lawmakers should reconsider the number of days North Carolina allows for early voting in primaries. In-person early voting started on Feb. 12 and ended Feb. 28.

“Seventeen days of early voting just seemed pretty excessive and it really stresses the local boards of elections,” Berger said. Some county election boards struggle to find daily staffing for all of their voting sites in the early voting period, he said. 

Minority Leader Sydney Batch, D-Wake, called Berger’s comments “an insult to his district and an affront to our democracy.”

“The voters sent him a clear message,” Batch said. “It’s time he accept it and get back to work to finish the job he still has, while he still has it. Pass a budget.”

State lawmakers haven’t adopted a comprehensive state budget since 2023. They were expected to do so last year, but Berger and Republican House Speaker Destin Hall have been at odds over a range of issues,  including tax policy, Medicaid funding, and other line items affecting billions of dollars in state funding.

Berger said Tuesday that he and Hall were on the verge of a spending agreement for Medicaid, the government-funded health insurer for people who are young, impoverished or disabled. Republican legislators plan to approve Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s $319 Medicaid request, while adding guardrails and oversight measures to prevent fraud and waste. 

To strike the deal, Berger said Tuesday that he had agreed to postpone discussions about funding for a massive new children’s hospital. The 2023 budget authorized about $320 million over three fiscal years for North Carolina Children’s Health — a partnership between UNC Health and Duke Health — to open in Apex in 2032. About $216 million has already been spent. Hall has said his caucus wants to reconsider the final installment of funds, about $103 million, while Berger has called on House leaders to release the money. 

“We’ve agreed to move the discussion of whether or not the House is going to honor the agreement they made in 2023 to the full budget discussion,” Berger said Tuesday.

Earlier Tuesday, Hall told reporters that progress had been made on negotiating children’s hospital funding. 

“It’s not resolved yet,” Hall said. “I think there’s some questions about how much more money it’s going to need exactly in order to be a viable project. And so, you know, those discussions continue.”

Those budget negotiations are ongoing, but Berger said recent conversations have given him reason to be optimistic. “We’re having conversations,” he said. “They are substantive. They haven’t gotten us to an agreement yet, but we are continuing to talk, continuing to exchange ideas,” Berger said.

Hall described budget talks similarly: “The trajectory is good [enough] to where we’re very likely to get a budget done, hopefully sooner rather than later.”

Berger said that, in the final months of his term, he wants to focus on policies that make North Carolina a top destination for businesses. 

“I’d like to continue the progress that we’ve made over the years in making North Carolina number one state for business and making North Carolina a competitive state in terms of our tax climate and our regulatory climate,” Berger said, adding that he wants to boost education funding as well. 

Addressing property taxes

House and Senate Republicans are also offering separate proposals for limiting property taxes in North Carolina. 

House Republicans are pursuing a constitutional amendment that would give the state more control over how much cities and counties can raise property taxes. On Tuesday, Berger said he doesn’t think there’s a consensus on the proposed amendment and noted that it would take several months to enact into law. Voters must approve constitutional amendments at the polls in order for them to become law. 

“It’s a start that we can look at,” Berger said of the proposed constitutional amendment.  “But that, by itself, would not actually go into effect until after the voters approve it, if they approve it, and then the legislature actually passes some sort of legislation.”

Berger said he plans to introduce a bill that freezes municipal property tax revaluations for 12 months while legislators study the issue further. 

“We’ve got to do something,” Berger said. “I just don’t know that there’s consensus as to what that something is. 

“The best thing that we can do at this point is just call a timeout and give the legislature an opportunity to try to review whatever proposals might be out there.”

NORMAN — The Sooners were behind the eight ball for much of Tuesday’s game against Oral Roberts.

But one swing of the bat got them in a more favorable position.

Shortstop Jaxon Willits blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning to give No. 14 Oklahoma its first lead before eventually winning 7-6. 

The Sooners trailed by as many as five runs before they rallied late.

In the first inning, Oral Roberts’ Cooper Combs hit a two-out grand slam to give the Golden Eagles a comfortable cushion. OU infielder Deiten Lachance got the Sooners on the board in the second inning with a solo home run, but ORU responded with a solo shot of its own in the next frame.

The Golden Eagles made it a 6-1 run game in the top of the fourth, and they appeared to be on cruise control. But in the bottom of that frame, OU’s rally began.

Dasan Harris made it a four-run game again with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth before Camden Johnson hit a sacrifice fly of his own in the fifth.

Then, in the sixth, the Sooners took their first lead of the game.

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Harris singled before Kyle Branch and Connor Larkin walked to load the bases. Willits then swung at the first pitch he saw, sending it well over the right-center field fence.

Neither team scored after Willits’ home run, as OU relief pitcher Xander Mercurius retired nine ORU batters in a row to seal the Sooners’ one-run win.

Michael Catalano started on the mound for Oklahoma, but his outing was short-lived — he gave up four earned runs on two hits and five walks in 1 ⅓ innings. 

After coach Skip Johnson relieved Catalano in the second inning, six different OU arms entered the game. Reid Hensley collected the win, while Mercurius got the save.

OU improved to 28-12 overall with the win, while Oral Roberts dropped to 23-15. The Sooners are 7-3 in midweek games this season, and they clinched the season sweep of the Golden Eagles on Tuesday.

Next, the Sooners will hit the road for a three-game series against Auburn. The Tigers, ranked No. 11 by D1Baseball, are 10-8 in SEC play and took two of three games against Florida over the weekend.

The series will open on Friday, and first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Six Republican candidates vying to become South Carolina’s next governor met in downtown Charleston for a wide-ranging debate that put abortion, infrastructure and the future of data centers at the center of the race.

The forum was held at the Sottile Theatre, where Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, Lowcountry businessman Rom Reddy and Attorney General Alan Wilson took the stage.

Questions included whether they would support a state hate crime law, how they would address concerns about growth and infrastructure, how to navigate collaboration, abortion and the future of data centers in the state.

One issue that drew near-unanimous opposition was state Senate Bill 1095, a proposed total abortion ban that passed out of committee earlier in the day. All of the candidates opposed the bill, but they differed on what they would do if it reached the governor’s desk.

READ MORE | South Carolina governor candidates tout infrastructure, growth at business forum

Norman said he would sign it.

“You know, this is an emotional issue, but I will tell you if this bill came to my desk as governor. If it passed the House and the Senate, I would sign it,” Norman said.

All of the other candidates on stage said they would veto the bill if it came across their desk as governor, with Reddy arguing the question should be decided by voters.

“The Supreme Court did not say the loudest voice in the ruling class prevails. It said it’s up to the people in the state, so let’s put it to a referendum,” Reddy said.

On infrastructure, candidates discussed reforming the South Carolina Department of Transportation and allowing private-sector involvement to help pay for improvements.

Wilson outlined ideas that included leasing interstate easements and expanding private express lanes.

“We privatized that grass between the interstates. We turn it into private express lanes that can be told we leased the easements on the sides of interstates to telecommunication companies and energy companies, and charge them for natural gas line and fiber optic fiber optic cables,” Wilson said.

Evette also pointed to public-private partnerships and the possibility of fast-pass lanes.

READ MORE | South Carolina governor candidates tout infrastructure, growth at business forum

“We want to make sure that we’re innovative public private partnerships coming in and creating fast pass lanes to allow people that are in a hurry to be able to utilize that,” Evette said.

The final question focused on data centers, with candidates agreeing corporations should “pay their way.”

“They should pay for their water. They should pay for their infrastructure, any roads around it, and we should look at what Governor Ron DeSantis has done in Florida with the large data centers that are coming to Florida. That should be the model in South Carolina and everywhere,” Mace said.

Kimbrell said the state should set limits to protect natural resources and guard against higher power costs for residents.

“Put parameters around data centers to ensure that the water consumption does not impact places like the ACE Basin,” Kimbrell said. “Ensuring that the Public Service Commission makes absolutely sure nobody’s power rate goes up and we try to get behind the meter energy grids in place so they can be self-sufficient.”

Two more debates are planned ahead of the primaries on June 9.