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Shomari Figures did his part.
On an election night that spiraled downward on several fronts for Democrats, Figures was one of few bright spots, flipping a U.S. House seat in Alabama’s newly drawn 2nd Congressional District and likely helping Dems retake control of the House.
For the first time ever, Alabama will have two Black U.S. representatives.
Figures, the son of prominent Democrats from Mobile and an attorney in the Department of Justice under both Presidents Obama and Biden, rolled to a 10-point victory over Caroleene Dobson. Both Dobson and Figures were first-time candidates and attorneys.
Figures’ father, Michael, was a prominent Civil Rights leader and state lawmaker. Following his death in 1996, Figures’ mother, Vivian, was elected to his state senate seat and has held it for the past 18 years.
“We’ve made no secret that the only reason we thought we could get in this race and be successful is because of a legacy laid down long before I was born,” Figures said of his family’s history. “After my father’s death … my mother did more than just keep that legacy going. She raised three of us, the oldest one a talkative, loud, opinionated young man … who is now a U.S. Representative.”
Figures’ campaign leaned heavily on increasing access to health care, particularly in rural counties within CD2, and on public education. It was a winning message in a district that was almost evenly divided between white and Black voters.
Addressing supporters at his victory party in Mobile, Figures called his wife and mother onto the stage, giving them credit for his campaign’s success, and said the true work begins now.
“This journey that we’re on now – this is the beginning of the work,” he said. “We’re grateful. But now we gotta do the work. We have problems that abound, but we’re coming to the table with solutions.”
During her concession speech, Dobson said her campaign addressed issues that most Alabamians care about, but she said the courts had given Figures an advantage.
“We knew that the courts had given the other team a home field advantage,” Dobson said.
Federal courts, and ultimately the very conservative U.S. Supreme Court, found that Alabama’s congressional districts had been unfairly gerrymandered and ordered them redrawn. When Republican state lawmakers refused that order, a federal court appointed a special master that redrew CD2, with 48.7 percent Black voters in the district. While short of a Black majority, it provided minority voters a “fair opportunity,” in the courts’ view, to elect a candidate of their choosing.
Rep. Terri Sewell cruises to eighth term
By late Tuesday evening, with more than 90 percent of the vote tallied, Sewell had 63 percent of the vote and a 74,000-vote lead over Republican challenger Robin Litaker.
The result was not a surprise.
Sewell, a popular Democratic representative with a solid base of support in Alabama’s 7th Congressional District, was a heavy favorite going into the race. Litaker had initially lost the GOP primary, but was subbed into the race when the party’s nominee, Christian Horn, a Huntsville resident and sports talk show host, dropped out after seeing polling data showing he had little chance of winning.
Gary Palmer easily wins sixth term in 6th District
There were no problems for Rep. Gary Palmer in his re-election bid. The five-term congressman won easily over first-time candidate Elizabeth Anderson, hauling in more than 70 percent of the vote.
With polling showing Palmer with an easy path to victory, he did little campaigning. Anderson, in the meantime, used her longshot campaign to attempt to build Democratic support in the Republican stronghold. She focused her campaign on women’s reproductive rights and IVF. While she ultimately wasn’t successful – a result she said last week that she expected – Anderson said she was hopeful to build on the experience and encourage others to run for office.
Barry Moore is going back to D.C.
After being drawn out of his 2nd congressional district seat by a court-ordered redistricting, Barry Moore has made it clear that he doesn’t go away easily.
Moore defeated Democratic candidate Tom Holmes, picking up nearly 80 percent of the vote, in CD1 to ensure he remains in Congress. Moore’s win in the general election follows a surprising upset of Republican Jerry Carl in the GOP primary.
Sarah Stewart is new chief justice
In the only contested judicial election in the state, Sarah Stewart picked up nearly 70 percent of the vote to beat longtime Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Greg Griffin in the race to lead Alabama’s Supreme Court.
Stewart, a Vanderbilt graduate, has been on the court since 2018 but will now step into the chief justice’s role, replacing Tom Parker, who was forced to step aside due to state law prohibiting judges from running for office after age 70.
