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Elections

Page fundraising now at $46K

State campaign-finance reports are still trickling in, but in the most closely-watched legislative primary, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page says he’d raised $46,466 as of the end of 2025. This includes $20,903 in new receipts as of the second half of the year. Page is running in the District 26...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2026

Charlotte hearing: Brickbats for the sheriff, flowers for everyone else

With one prominent exception, Monday’s House oversight hearing into Charlotte’s safety situation turned into a bit of a love fest. Appearances from Mecklenburg County DA Spencer Merriweather, Mayor Vi Lyles, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson and City Manager Marcus Jones came and went with barely a word of criticism. “I...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2026

Berger adds to campaign war chest

Senate leader Phil Berger’s fundraising haul for the 2025-26 election cycle has topped $2.4 million, far exceeding the total reported by his rival for the District 26 GOP nomination. The longtime Rockingham County legislator’s campaign banked another $684,268 during the second half of 2025, according to its report to the...

By Ray Gronberg

February 10, 2026

Rep. Paré criticizes Wake property tax decisions

Rep. Erin Paré, R-Wake, a co-chair of the House select committee on property taxes, has been hammering local governments in her county for letting their tax burdens rise. Recent Twitter posts from Paré have singled out tax increases affecting residents of Zebulon and Wendell, eastern Wake suburbs that aren’t in...

By Ray Gronberg

February 5, 2026

Senate launches its own property tax panel

Senate leader Phil Berger is following House Speaker Destin Hall in setting up a select committee to deal with rising property tax rates. Unlike Hall, Berger has decided that the Senate’s review won’t be bipartisan. His office announced the appointment Tuesday of an all-Republican panel to conduct the Senate’s review....

By Ray Gronberg

February 4, 2026

Insurance Dept. sees no fraud in Rockingham Co. dispute

North Carolina’s Department of Insurance closed the books on a complaintalleging that Rockingham County officials illegally asked the county’s insurance to pay for their defense against a libel lawsuit. “We received a complaint related to the Rockingham County commissioners. We reviewed it and closed it because of no evidence of...

By Ray Gronberg

January 30, 2026

Immigration battle changing political calculus, some Dems say

Federal immigration crackdowns are politicizing and energizing Americans in ways that haven’t happened in decades, a group of Black politicians and political activists say. But both political parties are behind the curve in dealing with the ramifications, said former state Rep. Chaz Beasley and other participants in a Thursday media...

By Ray Gronberg

January 26, 2026

Buckhout claims $2M+ war chest

First District Congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout says she’s raised more than $2 million so far in her second bid for the U.S. House seat currently held by Rep. Don Davis. The Republican also says she intends to launch “a six-figure television and digital advertising campaign in the district,” which covers...

By Ray Gronberg

January 21, 2026

Weekend poll shows Page leading District 26 race

A new poll that was in the field over the weekend shows Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page with a 39% to 34% advantage over Senate leader Phil Berger in the District 26 Republican primary. That’s effectively showing the race as a toss-up, as the spread is well within the poll’s...

By Ray Gronberg

January 21, 2026

Berger up 4 in race with Page, poll says

A new poll is claiming that Senate leader Phil Berger has about a four percentage point lead in his District 26 GOP primary battle against Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. That effectively makes the race “a total tossup,” in a battle where “both sides are running horrible campaigns,” said Rick...

By Ray Gronberg

January 9, 2026

Former state GOP official helping Cunningham

The legal team that drafted Rep. Carla Cunningham’s petition to remove Mecklenburg County’s sheriff from office includes a former N.C. Republican Party operative. Philip Thomas, one of the two lawyers who worked on the petition, was the state GOP’s chief counsel from the spring of 2020 to the start of...

By Ray Gronberg

January 6, 2026

Cunningham seeks ouster of Mecklenburg sheriff

Rep. Carla Cunningham has joined forces with a quartet of former Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office deputies to petition for a court-ordered removal of county Sheriff Garry McFadden. The petition accused McFadden of a variety of misconduct, including telling Cunningham the people of Mecklenburg County would “come after” her if she...

By Ray Gronberg

January 6, 2026

McFadden in the crosshairs

The petition seeking Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden’s removal from office contends that the two-term incumbent arbitrarily played favorites among deputies and jail inmates. Former Mecklenburg Sheriff’s Maj. Bryan Adams alleged McFadden promoted unqualified deputies because they were part of what he called “Team Sheriff.” In practice, that meant “going...

By Ray Gronberg

January 6, 2026

Berger staffer leaves for lobbying firm

Another of Senate leader Phil Berger’s top aides is moving over to the private sector. The Raleigh Group, the lobbying firm led by John Hardin, says Madison Alligood has joined the firm as general counsel.  Alligood has been a policy adviser to Berger since the spring of 2022, and since...

By Ray Gronberg

January 5, 2026

The U.S. Senate field is set

Continuing our filing wrap-up, it’s time to start looking at the Congressional races involved in the upcoming March primary. The headliner here is the U.S. Senate race, particularly on the Republican side. There, Trump-endorsed candidate Michael Whatley is facing six other contestants. One of these is Michele Morrow, the party’s...

By Ray Gronberg

December 23, 2025

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