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N.C. Senate District 37: Northern Mecklenburg and Iredell Counties

N.C. Senate District 37 is all of Iredell County and nearly 3% of Mecklenburg County voters who live along its northern border. Incumbent Republican Vickie Sawyer is seeking another term. 

Each N.C. Senate district represents approximately 200,000 citizens. N.C. Senate District 37’s voters split as follows: 21% are Democrat, 40% are Republican and 38% are unaffiliated voters. 

Democrat Kate Compton Barr

Barr says “District 37 is so gerrymandered that I don’t stand a chance.” She nonetheless is running because she wants to “make some noise and raise some hell.” Her website URL in fact is katebarcantwin.com. She told a TV station, “The thought of walking into the booth in November and only having one name on my ballot for my Senate district made me nauseous.” She believes “abortion is healthcare” and that “we need common sense gun laws to keep our communities safe.” She is also anti-gerrymandering. She lives in Davidson and has a bachelor’s and public health master’s from UNC Chapel Hill. She was a former Davidson Town Planning board member. She completed high school at the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics. She is a behavioral scientist at the University of Michigan’s Center for Academic Innovation, an entrepreneur who started a baby product company and mother of two. (Age ~40)

Republican Vickie Sawyer 

Sawyer has served in the N.C. Senate since 2018. She is running to represent Iredell and the northern part of Mecklenburg county. She was a leader in the Iredell County Republican Party prior to being elected. She has sponsored legislation favoring hotel owners to evict long-term, “disruptive” guests and enabling easier student searches at schools. She cites “conservative leadership” and “common sense principles” on her website. She also expresses concerns about challenges with transportation in our growing area and wants to raise the age of child marriage in N.C. She says she grew up in a trailer park in Davidson County and was the salutatorian of her high school class. She and her husband own an insurance sales company in Mooresville. She is a graduate of UNC Charlotte and participates in a WSIC radio show/podcast where she discusses “the latest legislation.” The tone of those recordings are moderate and even at times critical of the MAGA wing of her party. She is the mother of two. (Age ~49)

This candidate information was produced by the Charlotte Ledger and is reprinted here with permission.