Just a Few Months Distant -- The Most Important Republican Primary Race

 

Paul Specht just published on the WRAL site a very long and thorough introduction to everything Berger v. Page, the Republican primary next March which will determine whether The Notorious Phil Berger keeps his job as President Pro Tempore of the NC Senate or Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page ousts his ass once and for all. I would have to say that I'm rooting for the sheriff.

Apparently, the real prospect that the All Powerful Berger could be beat by a popular and upstanding opponent has apparently induced "third-party groups to set up websites and social media accounts to attack Page, while also launching ads that promote Berger," according to Specht. It's gotten personal and nasty, enough so that the Chair of the Rockingham County Republican Party, Diane Parnell, remarked to Specht, “I’ve never seen it this ugly.”

So we who have known the dirt on Berger for years are now learning dirt on Page, and for my money this is the worst revelation to come out of the Berger attack-dogs:

A dozen people have died in [the Rockingham Co.] jail since 2021, according to the Greensboro News & Record. Some of those deaths were by suicide. The family of one of the victims sued the county, claiming deputies were informed of their son’s mental issues but failed to take the proper precautions to ensure his safety. The family agreed to drop the lawsuit after a settlement. Last year, the county’s insurer informed commissioners that they would no longer cover the Rockingham County jail — a development covered by multiple media outlets.

County officials said their insurer, Travelers Insurance, dropped their detention center from its coverage because jail staff failed to report several incidents to the company.

That jail sounds like a black hole, administered by an authoritarian with limited fellow-feeling -- regardless of the sheriff's protestations to Specht that all those deaths -- 12 in the last 4 years! -- are nothing to do with conditions at the jail.

Naturally, They Want THIS Judge on the Case

 

I reported last October about several noxious laws the Republicans slipped into the state's budget bill, evidently hoping people wouldn't notice. We noticed. Among those terrible things, Phil Berger and Tim Moore gave themselves the power to pick 10 new "special" Superior Court judges -- no election or voice of the people required, just loyalty to the almighty power of the NCGOP.

That particular chicken has come home to roost. One of those 10 "special" judges became Clayton Somers, Speaker of the House Tim Moore's own former chief of staff.

Meanwhile, there happened a very contentious Republican primary in Rockingham County, where Phil Berger's planned gambling casino would have been located on land which had been conveniently (and just in time!) rezoned to allow for a gambling casino. One Republican county commissioner, Craig Travis, opposed all of the shenanigans, and campaigned against his fellow commissioner, Phil Berger's own son Kevin Berger. Travis almost beat Berger. Just 3 votes separated them when the dust settled.

Travis sued alleging that during the primary, other county commissioners and political organizations defamed him in attack ads stemming from his opposition to allowing a casino in Rockingham. So naturally, the defendants, including Kevin Berger, are petitioning to have the case tried by "special" Judge Clayton Somers, Tim Moore's BFF.

They don't even try to hide their corruption, nor mask it in any way. It's just business as usual. Give yourself the power to appoint the judges who will preside over your cases of corruption. The America of Donald Trump.

Another Bomb Shell About the Corruption in Rockingham County

 

More great reporting by Travis Fain for WRAL that unravels evidence that in Rockingham County more people than just the Berger family had been maneuvering for months to get in tight with the gambling industry.

So it came to pass that like magic the Rockingham County Commission amended its development ordinance back in June, removing a special use permit requirement for electronic gaming operations and amending the definition of “highway commercial” so that it would allow "any activity licensed by the state." With hindsight, that move was merely a necessary but very quiet step in helping gambling casino owners get a foothold in Rockingham County before anyone knew what was happening.

Fain found out that "few noticed" the ordinance amendment. "No one spoke at a public hearing on the issue. But the vote became crucial in August [21st] when the board of commissioners voted to rezone the 192-acre plot next to a summer camp for children with special needs as 'highway commercial'.” Phil Berger's own son Kevin sits on the CoCommish, and it sure enough looks like a secret plan was well underway to advantage a particular Maryland casino developer. 

Fain's bit of intel suggests a grand plan, months in the making and implementation, to get commercial gambling seated at the table as quietly and with the least sweat possible. Because it's simply not a good look for any respectable politician to be manhandling the process for something as iffy as big-time gambling in a rural county.

We can say that now that Berger's big scheme is dead -- for the moment. It will undoubtedly come back to life eventually, like a zombie.