DAVIDSON, N.C. — If you didn't already know that Kate Barr wasn't winning her election, you'd know by her "loser" shirt. Or her website. Or by just asking her.
"I could run a campaign that was all about losing and make gerrymandering like, really in front of people's faces," Barr said when she first began the thought process. "Then I filed two days later."
Barr is already the self-declared loser of District 37's state senate seat.
On your ballot, she's running against Republican incumbent Sen. Vickie Sawyer, but what she's really running against is gerrymandering.
"I will relentlessly introduce legislation to get us fair maps. I mean, that is the mission of this campaign. I also happen to believe that on the other side of fair maps, we can achieve anything we care about as North Carolinians," Barr said.
District 37 was one of many recently redrawn by the Republican supermajority legislature in Raleigh. The district, which includes Iredell County and parts of Mecklenburg County, now swings strongly towards the GOP. You can compare maps on the General Assembly's website.
"We as a state are the poster child of drawing the lines to entrench one party in power," said Bob Phillips, Executive Director at Common Cause NC, a nonpartisan group pushing for fair maps. "Unfortunately, North Carolina does have this past. It was happening when Democrats were also in control and drawing the maps, not as sophisticated as it is today."
He's pushing for the same solution as Barr: an independent citizens' commission in charge of drawing the districts, similar to other states like California and Michigan.
"They have fair districts that are electing representatives that are actually having to answer to the interest of everybody, and not just a narrow segment of their party's base," Phillips said.
Despite a strong potential for a loss on Nov. 5, Barr is having fun with it.
"Maya Wiley on MSNBC called me everything JD Vance hates in a woman, and so I immediately put that on a T-Shirt," Barr said. "Make it a party and make some change."
WCNC Charlotte reached out to Sen. Sawyer for comment but did not receive a response.
Contact Julie Kay at juliekay@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.