Voters will decide primary runoff in Alabama’s new 2nd Congressional District

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama voters are expected to vote Tuesday on the party’s nominees for the state’s 2nd Congressional District, which was redrawn by a federal court to increase the voting power of black residents.

The result of the disputed second rounds will define the game for the closely contested November race. Democrats intend to flip the Deep South seat, and Republicans, with control of the U.S. House of Representatives at stake, will try to keep it under the GOP column.

A federal court redrawn the district in October after ruling that the state’s previous congressional map — which had just one majority-black district out of seven in a state that is about 27% black — illegally diluted the voting power of black residents. . The new district stretches across the state, including Mobile, the capital of Montgomery and the black belt of the state.

For the Democratic nomination, Shomari Figures, a former deputy chief of staff and counsel to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, faces state Rep. Anthony Daniels, the state House minority leader. On the Republican side, former state senator Dick Brewbaker faces real estate lawyer and political newcomer Caroleene Dobson to decide the party’s nomination.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report classified the district as “likely Democratic,” meaning it favors the Democratic candidate in November, but it is not considered a sure thing. The November race could see Alabama have two black congressional representatives in its delegation for the first time in history.

Figures and Daniels, both black, were the top two vote-getters in the crowded field of 11 Democrats seeking the nomination. Both men highlighted their experience – Figures in Washington and Daniels in Montgomery.

Figures, an attorney, also served as an advisor to former President Barrack Obama, serving as domestic director of the Office of Presidential Personnel and as a congressional staffer for U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. He is the son of two prominent Alabama legislators, longtime state Senator Vivian Davis Figures and the late Senate President Pro Tem Michael Figures. Numbers returned from Washington D.C. to Mobile to run for the congressional seat.

Daniels, a former teacher and businessman, was elected to the Alabama Legislature in 2014. He was elected minority leader in 2017, becoming the first black man to hold the position. He lives in Huntsville, which is outside the 2nd District, but his campaign emphasized that he grew up in the district and has worked on legislative issues statewide.

Numbers led in the initial round of voting, garnering around 43% of the vote. Daniels finished second with about 22%.

A runoff is mandatory in both races because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the March 5 primary.

Brewbaker led in the March primary, winning 37% of the vote to Dobson’s 24.76%.

Dobson, who was raised in Monroe County, lived and practiced law in Texas before returning to Alabama and joining the Maynard Nexsen law firm in 2019. She is a member of the Alabama Forestry Commission.

Brewbaker, a businessman and car dealership owner in Montgomery, served one term in the Alabama House and two terms in the Alabama Senate. He did not seek re-election in 2018.