Berger likely to set good example in final year as Senate leader

Weeks before North Carolina’s primary election, pundits were murmuring about Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger’s future.

Could the Rockingham County Republican actually lose an election to the local sheriff? If so, would he fight the result? Would he leave his leadership post? Resign from the Senate? If he stuck around, how would he approach his final year in office?

All questions but the last one have been answered by now. And signs point toward Berger operating much as he has during his previous 15 years at the Senate’s helm.

To recap, Berger lost by 23 votes last month to Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page. He asked for recounts available under state law. He also filed a handful of election protests but abandoned them when the recounts confirmed Page’s win.

Berger chose not to fight the result in court. “While this was a close race, the voters have spoken,” he acknowledged in a March 24 concession. He confirmed plans to return to Raleigh “to ensure North Carolina continues to be the best state in the nation in which to live, work, raise a family, and retire.”

The Senate leader no doubt recalls the circumstances surrounding his own rise to power.

Berger and fellow Republicans shocked observers across the state when they took control of the General Assembly in 2011. Berger replaced Democrat Marc Basnight, who had led the Senate for a record-setting 18 years.

Contemporary reports suggested that Basnight was gracious and ordered his staff to cooperate with new Republican leaders during the transition. In contrast, the outgoing Democratic state House speaker blocked transition efforts. He haggled with his successor for a major increase in the minority party’s staffing budget.

Berger is unlikely to focus on dropping political bombs on his way out.

“Phil Berger is an institutionalist,” former state Sen. Mike Woodard told the Raleigh News and Observer this month. A Democrat from Durham, Woodard opposed many of Berger’s priorities for more than a decade in the Senate.

Berger “is going to continue to support the institution that has been a part of his life for a quarter-century,” Woodard said. “He’s not going to do anything crazy that would go against the quarter-century of work that he’s built up. So he’s going to continue to be that steady, institutional leader that he’s always been, and he’ll continue doing that through December.”

Few people have opposed Berger more often in recent years than Gov. Josh Stein, another Democrat. The two political figures have battled over legislation and lawsuits.

Yet the governor offered the News and Observer a respectful assessment of his political adversary. Stein and Berger have “very different perspectives on what’s the best way to serve the interest of North Carolina, what’s going to position us for long-term success — but I respect the fact that he believes deeply what he does, and it comes from a place of affection for North Carolina,” the governor said.

Berger emphasized recent history in his election concession. “Over the past 15 years, Republicans in the General Assembly have fundamentally redefined our state’s outlook and reputation. It has been an honor to play a role in that transformation,” he wrote.

More recently, Berger released a column touting the “opportunity to continue North Carolina’s economic progress” during this year’s legislative session.

Pointing toward the ongoing state budget impasse with House Republicans, Berger emphasized “the diversity of thought and the sincerity of firmly held beliefs within our own party.” Though “disagreements can sometimes be heated, I remain convinced that most of us see opportunity for mutually respectful debate and principled solutions.”

Now the state faces a “critical inflection point,” Berger wrote. Opposing voices “need to come together for the good of our state and to continue the progress made over the last decade and a half.”

No one should expect Berger to abandon policy stances he has espoused for more than two decades in office. His column highlighted two issues — tax reduction and spending restraint — as critical in “our never-ending competition with other states for economic growth, job creation, and a better future for our people.”

It remains unclear whether the House and Senate can reach agreement on a new comprehensive budget plan. The future of other high-profile legislative initiatives also remains uncertain during these early days of the new session.

But Berger is likely to remain a constant. He will approach his job with the goal of setting North Carolina up for continued success long after his term expires at the end of the year.

Mitch Kokai is senior political analyst for the John Locke Foundation.