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Shomari Figures, a Democrat who worked in the Justice Department, will face Caroleene Dobson, a lawyer and Republican political newcomer, this November for Alabama’s Second Congressional District seat, according to The Associated Press.
The two candidates won primary runoff elections Tuesday in the district, which was redrawn after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the state had illegally diluted the power of black voters.
Now that the district has more black voters, who have historically largely supported Democrats, political analysts see the race as one of the most competitive in the South. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report ranks it as a likely Democratic seat. (The district’s current representative, Barry Moore, is expected to remain in Congress after winning the Republican primary in the neighboring First Congressional District.)
The Second District now spans the entire state and encompasses much of Mobile; Montgomery, the capital of Alabama; and several counties in the Black Belt, where rich soil once fed plantations worked by enslaved people.
In the Republican primary, Dobson faced Dick Brewbaker, a former state senator. Brewbaker repeatedly highlighted his experience in the state Legislature, while Dobson argued it was time for a newer political voice in Washington.
In the Democratic runoff, Figures’ opponent was state Rep. Anthony Daniels, the House Democratic leader.
Mr. Figures’ family has a long political legacy in Alabama: He is the son of Michael Figures and Vivian Davis Figures, who served in the state Senate, and Mrs. Davis Figures won her husband’s seat after his death in 1996. Shomari Figures He returned to Alabama after working in the Department of Justice and the Obama administration.
Daniels does not live in the district (a point of contention in the race, although residency is not a requirement) but grew up there. He argued that his leadership position in the House of Representatives had shown that he could deliver for Alabamians.
The November election could result in Alabama sending two black representatives to Washington for the first time in its history if Mr. Figures wins and if Representative Terri Sewell, the Democrat from the Sixth Congressional District, wins re-election, as voters hope. analysts. .