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Alabama now knows the candidates that will compete to represent the re-drawn 2nd Congressional District in November.
Democrat Shomari Figures and Republican Caroleene Dobson won their respective party nominations during runoff elections on Tuesday. Both candidates defeated competitors who had experience as state legislators.
Dobson defeated former state Sen. Dick Brewbaker by picking up 58.42 percent of votes to 41.58 percent for Brewbaker. And Figures was able to get 61.05 percent of votes compared to 38.95 percent by House Minority Leader Rep. Anthony Daniels, D-Hunstville.
Following his victory, Figures made a statement thanking the people of District 2 for their support.
“Thank you to the people of District 2. At the end of the day this race is not about me,” Figures said. “This race has always been about the people and places that call our community home. It’s about our teachers, public service workers, people in uniform, our seniors, and the children of our District. To all of those who have placed their trust and confidence in me, thank you. Now, we move forward with a unified party and mission to win in November.”
Dobson also made a statement following the win, according to the Alabama Reflector.
“Alabama’s Second Congressional District needs someone who will fight for us, and I will,” Dobson said in a statement Tuesday. “In Congress, I will listen to you, represent everyone in this district, and do what’s best for you, not the special interests in Washington.”
Mobile played a crucial part in both candidates winning on Tuesday as Figures picked up more than 90 percent of votes there, and Dobson also secured more than 61 percent of votes in the county.
While Figures does not have experience as a state legislator, he worked as an official in the Obama administration for several years before returning to Mobile, where he was born and raised. Residency issues dominated much of the talk surrounding the race between Figures and Daniels, as Daniels lived outside of the district. Besides that, Figures and Daniels had commonality among most policy issues including healthcare, education and other topics.
On the Republican side, Dobson attacked Brewbaker’s past voting record on certain issues and attempted to paint Brewbaker as being unsupportive of Donald Trump. Brewbaker said he was not going to use negative messaging as a strategy, and Brewbaker endorsed Trump back in January. Both Dobson and Brewbaker discussed disapproving of how the Biden administration is handling topics like education, immigration and spending but disagreed on how to remedy those issues.
Dobson has taken a stance on many issues hitting on the cultural talking points of the time like saying there is an invasion at the border and mentioning transgender athletes as a problem.
Following the election, Attorney General Eric Holder also released a statement recognizing how Black Alabamians fought against the previous congressional map, which was deemed unconstitutional. The current map was redrawn to redress how Black voters were having their voting power diluted because of a gerrymandered map.
Holder’s full statement can be read below:
“Following tonight’s runoff election, Alabama voters now stand on the cusp of making history in November, when Black Alabamians could — for the first time — elect two members of Congress who truly reflect their political desires,” Holder said.
Dobson and Figures will go head to head on Nov. 5.
