“Fifty air horns could help change the course of an election.”

The first time we set off the air horns, several of us got frostbite. We didn’t expect it, because we were standing outside of the North Carolina Governor’s Mansion in short sleeves, already contending with the sticky warmth of springtime. Giddy and naive, we wrested the compact aerosol cans from their hard plastic containers with our teeth like children struggling to free new toys. The horns, which were painted in cheery shades of red, white, and blue, were about the size of an inhaler. They looked innocuous.