Democratic U.S. House member Shomari Figures will face a Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump in his fight for reelection to an Alabama congressional seat the GOP redrew as part of a larger effort to help the party keep control of the U.S. House. He will be running against state Rep. Rhett Marques, who won the GOP nomination for the 2nd Congressional District in Tuesday's special primary election. Figures was unopposed.
The district is one of several Democratic-leaning districts across the South that were reshaped to Republican advantage in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that severely weakened the Voting Rights Act. Democrat Terri Sewell, Alabama’s other Black representative, was unopposed in her primary and is favored to win reelection in her slightly redrawn 7th Congressional District in the fall, when she will face educator Ammie Akin, who won the GOP primary.
Figures, who was elected in 2024, maintains that his new district is winnable for him and said the choice in November is simple.
“My opponent would be just another rubber stamp on the same policies that are making life more expensive for the people right here in Alabama,” he said in a statement Tuesday night.
Marques, the owner of a tire and automotive service who has served in the Alabama Legislature since 2018, and also got the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Katie Britt.
“The stakes in November could not be higher,” he said after winning the Republican nomination.
Both parties have made the district a priority for the fall.
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. APR news investigated the lead up to the 2024 election with its international award-winning program “…a U.S. House Seat, if you can keep it.” The news team followed up that coverage by interviewing Figures in season one of “APR Notebook.”
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.
Figures' new district is in the state’s southeastern corner and includes the capital, Montgomery, and Tuskegee, both Democratic strongholds steeped in civil rights history. It sweeps through rural areas known for peanut and soybean farming, and has a heavy military presence, with an Air Force base in Montgomery and an Army base in Dale County.
But the Republican redraw dropped its Black voting age population from 48% to 40%, making it more challenging for Democrats.
During a recent forum, the GOP candidates answered questions about the Iran war, data centers and the district's needs. But much of the attention was on Figures and 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.
He survived a six-way GOP primary and on Tuesday reached out to voters who supported his opponents. He said his fall campaign would focus on promoting safe streets and Christian values, and putting “more money in your pockets.”
“With your help, common sense will conquer craziness in November,” Marques said in a statement.
Bill Ventress voted for Marques on Tuesday, saying he had a proven record in the district.
“He was my city councilman. He’s been my state representative. He’s done a great job in every position he’s been in, and I know he will again,” Ventress said.
The National Republican Congressional Committee said it was supporting Marques and would focus on his support for Trump's agenda in a state the president has won by wide margins three times. Alabama Republican Party Chairman Scott Stadthagen said Tuesday's GOP nominees give the party a chance to sweep all the state's seven congressional districts.
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,” he said.
On Tuesday night, he cited his record of bringing money to the district for hospitals, law enforcement, housing, and water and transportation projects.
Some Black Alabamians see echoes of the past in the redistricting process, considering the Republican gerrymandering as a way to silence their political voice.
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.”
