The day after a series of closely watched elections in Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas earlier this month, Donald Trump published a seemingly endless series of items to his social media platform, highlighting candidates who won primaries after receiving his endorsement.

The president ultimately concluded, “My Endorsements within the Republican Party have been virtually insurmountable! It is such an honor to realize and say that almost everyone I Endorse WINS, and wins by a lot.”

Strictly speaking, that wasn’t true at the time, and three weeks later, the boast appears even more misplaced — because the single most powerful GOP policymaker in North Carolina had Trump’s backing, which wasn’t enough to keep him in office. The Associated Press reported:

North Carolina government’s most influential politician, Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger, conceded the primary race for his seat to Sam Page on Tuesday, shaking the power structure in the ninth-largest state and likely soon ending Berger’s preeminence as the state’s top conservative architect.

Berger trailed Page, the Rockingham County sheriff, in their March 3 primary by only 23 votes. He has been Senate leader since 2011 when Republicans took full control over the General Assembly for the first time in 140 years.

Commenting on the outcome, Bolts magazine’s Daniel Nichanian and The Downballot’s Stephen Wolf used the same word to describe Berger’s unexpected primary defeat: “earthquake.”

Berger wasn’t just a legislative leader in North Carolina, he was the GOP’s most powerful figure in state politics for over a decade, overseeing what The New York Times described as a “far-reaching network of lobbyists, corporate executives and government allies.” What’s more, the outgoing state Senate leader was also his party’s most prolific fundraiser, which makes his pending departure that much more significant in state politics going forward.

Part of the outcome can be attributed to the many intraparty enemies that Berger made during his reign, but they weren’t the only relevant element. Page prevailed by positioning himself as a MAGA loyalist running against an entrenched incumbent.

This, coupled with a growing anti-incumbent sentiment, narrowly made the difference, despite the fact that the incumbent outspent his challenger by a 40-to-1 margin through mid-February.

As the primary season continues in the coming weeks and months, Republican officeholders hoping incumbency and financial advantages will keep them in office would be wise to take note.

The post North Carolina’s top Republican lawmaker loses in ‘earthquake’ primary upset appeared first on MS NOW.

Author: Source Author

From MS Now.