ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — A lawsuit that linked debate over a proposed Rockingham County casino to a politician’s primary loss has been reopened after the plaintiff said the judge who dismissed the case acted improperly.
Last month, Judge Hoyt G. Tessener sided against former Rockingham County Commissioner T. Craig Travis in his 2024 defamation suit against former Commissioner Don Powell and sitting Commissioners Mark Richardson and Kevin Berger, son of North Carolina State Sen. Phil Berger (R-Rockingham), as well as Rockingham County Republican Party Chair Diane Parnell, the North Carolina Conservatives Fund, Atlas Political Consulting LLC and GOPAC Inc.
According to court documents, a hearing was scheduled in April to hear the motion to dismiss filed by the defendants. The judge assigned to the case, Judge Robby Hicks, noted that after reviewing the files, he believed he had a conflict of interest due to his 2022 election campaign and recused himself from the case…