MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Democrats in two Alabama congressional districts that were redrawn by Republicans after a Supreme Court ruling that weakened the Voting Rights Act won their special primary elections on Tuesday, as they prepared for what are expected to be fierce contests for the Deep South seats in the fall.
The incumbents, Reps. Shomari Figures and Terri Sewell, were unopposed. They were waiting to find out which Republicans they will face
in November's general election.
Alabama is holding special primaries in four congressional districts after redrawing lines in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s redistricting decision. Alabama Republicans reshaped Figures' 2nd Congressional District to make it more likely to elect a Republican. The new map altered the lines of three other districts, including Sewell’s 7th District.
Republicans were aiming to flip Figures' seat after redrawing the heavily Black district in their favor, part of a wider gerrymandering push by Republicans that began last year to help the party try to hold onto its majority in the U.S. House.
Both parties have put the district on their priority list.
“We need to win this seat back for the state and for the country. We need to turn it red again,” said state Rep. Rhett Marques, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump in the GOP primary.
Six Republicans are competing to challenge Figures. Voters also will select nominees in three other Alabama districts affected by the Republicans' redraw.
Sewell, Alabama's other Black representative, is expected to have a more favorable path to reelection than Figures.
Figures won the seat in 2024 after years of litigation under the Voting Rights Act. A federal court redrew the reliably red district after ruling that the GOP-controlled Legislature intentionally diluted the voting power of Black residents, who make up 27% of Alabama's population.
The court said there should be a second Alabama district where Black people are a majority or near-majority. Figures' election gave the state, for the first time in its history, two Black representatives. They're the only Democrats in Alabama's seven-member congressional delegation.
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a majority-Black district in Louisiana as an unconstitutional gerrymander that relied too heavily on race. Alabama Republicans, like those in other Southern states, seized on the decision.
Seeking to implement a map previously drawn by the Legislature, lawmakers approved legislation to nullify the results of ongoing primaries and instead authorize Tuesday's special primary elections. The Supreme Court in June granted Alabama permission to switch maps.
During a recent forum in Dothan, in the far southeastern corner of the state, the GOP candidates answered questions about the Iran war, data centers and the district's needs. But much of the attention was on the general election.
“Shomari is going to have the money. He is going to have the opportunity to keep this district. If we get out to vote, we can win it, and we can take this seat back for the Republicans,” Marques said.
“It's important to get out there and make your voices heard and be represented up in D.C.,” said candidate Hampton Harris, a lawyer.
Christian Horn, a business owner and the lone Black person in the race, said Republicans need a candidate who can compete across the district, not just in traditional GOP communities. David Matthews, a former Trump appointee in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Joshua McKee, a former U.S. Army Green Beret, and former Marine James Richardson are also running.
Tom Heisner, a 79-year-old retired air traffic controller who attended the forum, said the GOP is more aligned with his views on border control and other issues.
“I’m fairly confident it will go Republican around here,” he said of the Dothan region. “I’m not so sure up in Montgomery.”
When Figures won the district, it stretched from his hometown of Mobile across the state’s Black Belt region and to the Georgia border.
Now the district is nestled in the state’s southeastern corner. It includes Montgomery and Tuskegee, both Democratic strongholds steeped in civil rights history. It sweeps through rural areas known for peanut and soybean farming. There is a heavy military presence, with an Air Force base in Montgomery and an Army base in Dale County.
The district's Black voting age population dropped from 48% to 40% after it was redrawn.
Speaking recently at a community gathering at the Beulah Baptist Church, located not far from the path of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march, Figures said Republicans won't succeed in making the district “unwinnable” for him.
“That’s in large part because I’ve had the privilege to represent over half of this new district already. We’ve shown up in the communities. We’ve shown them how we can deliver results,” Figures said.
Some Black Alabamians see echoes of the past in the redistricting process.
Maggie Walker, an 80-year-old retired educator from Montgomery, said she interpreted the Supreme Court’s redistricting decision as an effort to install “as many Republicans as possible” in the House. But she is optimistic Figures can win.
“I think he represents us and the things that are important to our state,” Walker said.
“We’re going backward with everything,” said Isaiah Sankey, vice chairman of the Montgomery County Commission. “But it’s OK — we are used to the struggle. It’s move forward, you get pushed back.”
