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Shomari Figures addressed the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night to highlight the importance of Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District and voice his support for Kamala Harris’s campaign for the presidency.
“I am running for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District. This is the district that gave America the Tuskegee Airmen, Rosa Parks, Fred Gray, and it is the birthplace of the civil rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama. And of course, this district is home to Mr. Good Trouble himself, Congressman John Lewis,” said Figures in his address.
Honoring where we came from, and only going forward from here! #AL02 pic.twitter.com/kEsUkVg6WU
— Figures for Congress (@ShomariFigures) August 23, 2024
This year, Democrats in Alabama gained a significant opportunity when a federal court redrew the state’s 2nd Congressional District to better favor their party. In Allen v. Milligan, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 last summer that the proposed Alabama congressional district map was gerrymandered It discriminated against Black voters and violated the Voting Rights Act by concentrating Black voters into a single majority-Black district, District 7.
Figures stepped down as deputy chief of staff and counselor to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to run for the newly redrawn congressional seat and emerged as the top vote-getter, 43.5 percent of votes in the competitive 11-candidate Democratic primary.
He then triumphed over Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, receiving 61 percent of the votes in the Democratic runoff, securing his position as the party’s nominee for November. In the general election, he will run against Republican Caroleene Dobson.
Figures also noted those who have paved his way to the DNC stage, his parents, state Sen. Vivian Figures and the late former state Sen. Michael Figures.
However, with the DNC’s theme Thursday being “For the Future,” most of Figures’ speech concentrated on the importance of getting out and voting this November.
“Listen, all of America, all of us, all of us owe a debt to courageous freedom fighters, known and unknown,” Figures said. “ A debt that can never be repaid, but what we can do is ensure that the work of those fighters who came before us continues and that our sacred right to vote is always protected.”
Figures also called on the freedoms Harris would protect as president and stated that Harris would sign the John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Act once it was reintroduced by Congresswoman Terri Sewell.
This legislation would require that specific states and political subdivisions obtain preclearance before making changes to their voting laws.
Under the preclearance requirement, jurisdictions with a history of voting discrimination must obtain approval from the U.S. Department of Justice or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. This process ensures that any proposed changes are not discriminatory.
The Voting Rights Act currently allows jurisdictions to avoid preclearance coverage by successfully proving in federal court that they meet specific conditions.
Figures said his farewells by echoing the overarching sentiment from the convention this week, that “we are not going back,” and instead “going forward with Kamala Harris.”
