Voters to decide primary runoffs in Alabama’s new 2nd Congressional District
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama voters will cast their ballots Tuesday to determine party nominees for the state’s 2nd Congressional District, which was redrawn by a federal court to increase the voting power of Black residents.
The outcome of the closely fought run-offs will determine the outcome of the closely watched race in November. Democrats aim to flip the seat in the Deep South, and Republicans, with control of the U.S. House of Representatives at stake, will try to keep it under the Republican column.
A federal court redrew the district in October after ruling that the state’s previous congressional map — which had only one majority-Black district in seven in a state that is about 27% Black — illegally diminished the voting power of Black residents watered down. The new district spans the width of the state, including Mobile, the capital of Montgomery and the state’s Black Belt.
For the Democratic nomination, Shomari Figures, a former deputy chief of staff and adviser to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, is running against State Rep. Anthony Daniels, the state House minority leader. On the Republican side, former Sen. Dick Brewbaker faces real estate attorney and political newcomer Caroleene Dobson to decide the party’s nomination.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rated the district as “likely Democrat,” meaning it favors the Democratic candidate in November but is not considered a certainty. The November race could result in Alabama having two black congressional representatives in its delegation for the first time in history.
Figures and Daniels, who are 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 assistant to former President Barrack Obama, as domestic director of the Presidential Personnel Office, and as a congressional aide to U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. He is the son of two prominent Alabama lawmakers, longtime Sen. Vivian Davis Figures and the late Senate President Pro Tem Michael Figures. Figures moved back to Mobile from Washington DC to run for the seat in Congress.
Daniels, a former teacher and business owner, was elected to the Alabama Legislature in 2014. In 2017, he was elected minority leader, becoming the first Black man to hold the post. He lives in Huntsville, outside the 2nd District, but his campaign has emphasized that he grew up in the district and has worked on statewide legislative issues.
The numbers led in the first round of voting, gaining approximately 43% of the votes. Daniels finished second with about 22%.
Runoffs are needed in both races because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the March 5 primary.
Brewbaker led in the March primary, receiving 37% of the vote to Dobson’s 24.76%.
Raised in Monroe County, Dobson lived and practiced law in Texas before returning to Alabama and joining the Maynard Nexsen law firm in 2019. She serves on the Alabama Forestry Commission.
Brewbaker, a businessman and owner of a car dealership in Montgomery, served one term in the Alabama House and two terms in the Alabama Senate. He did not stand for re-election in 2018.