Dethroning the king
Published 6:25 p.m. today
By Gary Pearce
Patrick Sebastian
Senator Thom Tillis told “wealthy potential donors” on a Zoom call last month that Phil Berger “had become too power hungry” and “had to go.”
That scoop comes from Eduardo Medina, a Durham-based reporter for The New York Times, who has done some of the best reporting on Berger’s abrupt and stunning fall from power.
So, I’m giving Medina a shout-out – and encouraging you to support good journalism by subscribing to the Times and other quality news outlets. That’s how we can all fight back against today’s flood of misinformation, disinformation and downright lies.
Medina’s story, published yesterday, also reported that Patrick Sebastian (photo), a Republican strategist from Pinehurst, helped organize the campaign that ousted “the King.”
Sebastian, the nephew of former Governor Pat McCrory, had been angry since Jim Blaine, Berger’s former chief of staff, said on TV that McCrory – who lost the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in 2022 – was “the biggest loser” of the year.
“Fuming in his home, Mr. Sebastian did not forget the insult,” Medina wrote.
He also reported that a major donor against Berger was Sheila Mikhail, “who founded several multibillion-dollar gene therapy companies in the Research Triangle.”
Mikhail, a breast cancer survivor, told Medina she was warned that Berger “would come after her.”
“But Berger doesn’t scare me,” she said. “Cancer scares me.”
In the wake of Sheriff Sam Page’s victory, Medina wrote, “A closer look at his campaign reveals not just the power of local grievances in a nationalized race, but also the way old feuds festered, boiled over and brought together a motley crew to try to take down, as Mr. Page put it, ‘North Carolina’s king’.”
He added, “Some conservatives have long felt that their political ambitions have been stifled by Mr. Berger and his far-reaching network of lobbyists, corporate executives and government allies.”
In the end, all the king’s horses and all the king’s men – and even $10 million and Donald Trump’s endorsement – couldn’t save the king.
