It was supposed to be a slam dunk runoff election win for Phil Berger, Jr. in the NC-06 Congressional district last night. It didn’t turnout that way.

In a modern David v. Goliath tale fit for one of his sermons, former Baptist Minister Mark Walker handily beat Phil Berger Jr. in the GOP runoff in the 6th Congressional District last night.

Berger, the Rockingham County District Attorney, had a lot going for him: family connections, high level GOP endorsements, a lot more money than Walker and the help of a dedicated super PAC that attacked often and viciously on his behalf.

But in the end voters said it was what he did with those resources – waging a ceaselessly negative campaign, using over-the-top, scorched earth rhetoric against a politically inexperienced minister with deep ties to the community – that turned them off.

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Throughout the campaign Berger shrugged off those criticisms, saying last week: ““A campaign for Congress is the big leagues. Anyone who can’t get their nose bloodied a little bit and suck it up doesn’t belong in politics. And anyone who is worried about that doesn’t understand what big-league politics is about.”

Berger is the son of NC Senate President Phil Berger, Sr., and was expected to walkway with this Congressional seat earlier in the year.

"'GOP operatives' either totally misread this race or ignored the warning signs" http://t.co/iWUGBcRfyn via @LadyLiberty1885 #nc06 #tcot

— NCHometownGirl (@NCHometownGirl) July 16, 2014

But NC grassroots conservatives aren’t happy these days. Establishment favorite, House Speaker Thom Tillis, beat grassroots conservative-preferred Dr. Greg Brannon in the U.S. Senate GOP Primary a few weeks ago. The Sixth Congressional runoff may be a warning sign that the GOP establishment shouldn’t take conservatives for granted in November.