MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Shomari Figures, a former top aide to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, on Tuesday won election to Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, which was redrawn by a federal court to give Black voters a greater voice in selecting their representative.
Figures, a Democrat, defeated Republican Caroleene Dobson to win the open seat, flipping the district that had been a GOP stronghold until it was redrawn last year. A federal court ruled that Alabama had illegally diluted the influence of Black voters — who make up 27% of the state’s population — and reshaped the district to give Black voters a fair opportunity to elect a congressional candidate of their choosing.
Figures, an attorney, served as deputy chief of staff and counselor to Garland and also served as an aide to former President Barrack Obama, serving as domestic director of the Presidential Personnel Office. Obama recorded robocalls encouraging voters to support Figures. U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also traveled to Alabama to support Figures, underscoring the role the district could play in which party has control of Congress.
In his victory speech, Figures said voters were making a statement that it was time to do something different.
“Tonight, it’s not about me. It is about us. It is about us as a district. It is about us as a people. It is about us as a state,” Figures said.
He said he was grateful for the support he received during the hard-fought race, but added that this was the “beginning of the work.”
“Today is great. We are grateful that we have the opportunity to sit here today and be elected and be put into a position to go do the work. But now we’ve got to do the work,” Figures said.
Figures’ win will give Alabama a second Black representative in its congressional delegation for the first time in the state’s history. Figures joins Rep. Terri Sewell who won reelection.
Figures on the campaign trail discussed the district’s profound needs in infrastructure, education and healthcare. He said Alabama’s refusal to expand its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act helped contribute to a wave of rural hospital closures in the state.
On the campaign trail, he often invoked the storied civil rights history of the district, which includes Montgomery, Tuskegee and parts of the state’s rural Black Belt. The 39-year-old Mobile native also has deep ties to state politics. His mother is a state senator, and his late father was a legislative leader and attorney who sued the Ku Klux Klan over the 1981 murder of a Black teenager.
In his election night speech, he paid tribute to his parents, telling the emotional story of his father’s sudden death in 1996 and how his mother picked up the pieces to continue raise the young family.
The redrawn district was one of several that Democrats had targeted for a flip. The non-partisan Cook Political Report had rated the reshaped district as “likely Democrat” but both campaigns stressed that it was a competitive race.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named Figures to its “Red to Blue” program, a slate of priority candidates they believed could flip districts from Republican control. The National Republican Congressional Committee similarly named Dobson to its list of priority candidates called the “Young Guns.”
Dobson, a real estate attorney and political newcomer, had criticized Figures as “Washington D.C. insider” because of his lengthy Washington resume and connections to the Obama and Biden administrations. Dobson, 37, emphasized concerns about border security, inflation, and crime — issues that she said are worries for families across the political spectrum.
Dobson, as she conceded the race, encouraged those who have considered running for office, to take that step.
“We need more citizen servants who run not because they want to make Washington their career but because they are dedicated to serve others and working toward a better day for all Alabamians,” Dobson said.
The new district came after a lengthy court battle in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Black Alabamians who had challenged the state’s existing congressional districts.
Federal judges approved new district lines in October after ruling that Alabama’s previous map — which had only one majority-Black district out of seven — was likely racially gerrymandered to limit the influence of the state’s Black voters. The three-judge panel said Alabama should have a second district where Black voters make up a substantial portion of the voting-age population and have a reasonable opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.
The new district, where Black residents make up nearly 49% of the voting-age population, spans the width of the state and includes the capital city of Montgomery, parts of the port city of Mobile as well as rural counties.
Figures’ win was a bright spot for state Democrats. With the exception of his race and Sewell’s, Republicans swept other major contested races in the state.
Republican Rep. Barry Moore, who currently represents the 2nd District will be returning to Congress after being elected to the 1st Congressional District. Moore was but was drawn out of his district in the new map. Moore successfully challenged the GOP incumbent in the primary and defeated Democratic nominee Tom Holmes on Tuesday. Incumbent Republican Rep. Gary Palmer also won reelection to the 6th Congressional District.
Alabama Supreme Court Justice Sarah Stewart, a Republican, was elected as chief justice after defeating Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin, the Democratic nominee.