As Democratic candidate Gloria Witt criss-crosses Central Virginia in her bid to turn the reliably red 5th Congressional District blue, she can often be spotted sported an orange butterfly brooch.
The butterfly is not a fashion statement, as a crowd of 300 energized voters in Charlottesville learned at a July rally.
Rather, the piece of jewelry pinned to her brown jacket represented the sort of metamorphosis she’d like to see in the district that hasn’t sent a Democrat to Congress since 2008.
“I started wearing this butterfly because I knew going into this race as a Black female running in District 5, you don’t have to say it, ‘It’s staunchly red, Gloria. And you’re never gonna win,’” Witt told the crowd, reciting a line she’s heard over and over since entering the race. “I said, ‘Well we’ve got a secret weapon.’ We’ve got people just like you.”