Berger won’t run against Hagan in North Carolina

Berger has been a driving force behind a number of pieces of controversial legislation that have emerged from North Carolina’s state legislature. He and Tillis have long had a tense relationship, partly stemming from statehouse politics. His decision not to run gives Tillis a much easier path to the nomination.

{mosads}“He certainly was the big question mark as to how bitter the GOP primary was going to get … It has to help Tillis and his campaign,” said Catawba College Prof. Michael Bitzer. “With Berger stepping out, it’ll be interesting to see if forces align behind Tillis or there’s still a kind of searching for another candidate from the base.”

Hagan is a top GOP target this election cycle — many view her seat as the tipping point for Senate control — and national Republicans have rallied around Tillis as their best hope of defeating her next year.

“It’s good in that it stops speculation and gets the party focused on who is in the race rather than who might get in,” one national GOP strategist said of Berger’s decision.

Berger’s decision not to run doesn’t guarantee Tillis the nomination, however. 

He still is facing Rev. Mark Harris (R), a leading force in the push to ban gay marriage in North Carolina last year, as well as Tea Party candidates Greg Brannon (R) and Heather Grant (R). North Carolina state Sen. Pete Brunstetter (R) is also considering a run, and has said Berger has offered to support him if he does.

But Berger was the candidate who could have given Tillis the most problems in the primary. 

A mid-August poll from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling showed him with a narrow lead over Tillis for the primary nod, with both pulling support in the low teens. All GOP candidates trailed Hagan by double-digit margins in that poll.