No Democrat has won election to the House of Representatives in North Carolina’s 6th congressional district since 1982. In the past two election cycles, Republican incumbent Mark Walker defeated his Democratic opponent with almost 60% of the vote. Donald Trump won the district by 15 points in 2016. In any other year, Democrats probably wouldn’t stand a chance. But this is 2018. With Trump in the White House, no district seems entirely out of reach for the Democratic Party. Given the special election margins we have seen in the past months, there is actually hope that Democrats can flip NC-06. And that’s exactly what Ryan Watts intends to do in November.

At 28 years of age, Ryan Watts is one of the youngest congressional nominees of the midterm cycle. Bolstered by high turnout, he won his primary by over 50 points in May. But it’s still going to be an uphill climb in November. NC-06 is a Republican stronghold in large part due to gerrymandering. The NC GOP’s congressional gerrymander is so effective that Vox warned it “could save the House Republican majority” even in the care of a statewide popular vote loss for the GOP.

Ryan is well aware of the challenges he faces. As a Democrat in a red district, he has proven quite capable of pushing progressive priorities in a non-politicized manner. “This is not about red versus blue,” he told us. “It’s about the people, not just the privileged few.”

Ryan joined us on the podcast to discuss his candidacy and the issues that matter to him, including transgender equality, immigration, and political corruption. Listen on iTunes or in your browser below: