After Districts Redrawn, Alabama Special Congressional Primary Brings Out Voters

WASHINGTON — Voters in four of Alabama’s seven congressional districts selected U.S. House nominees Tuesday under a new map that eliminates one of the state’s two majority-Black districts currently represented by Democrats.

Primaries for all seven congressional districts were originally scheduled for May 19, but Republican Gov. Kay Ivey postponed the contests for the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Congressional Districts following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that prompted a handful of Republican-controlled Southern states to throw out their congressional maps.

The court-inspired actions in Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee, as well as earlier legislative actions in other states to redraw their boundaries through mid-decade redistricting, were part of a nationwide Republican effort championed by President Donald Trump to maximize the party’s chances of holding its slim U.S. House majority in the 2026 midterm elections.

Alabama’s U.S. House members will continue to serve in their current districts until the end of 2026. Candidates in Tuesday’s primaries ran under the new Republican-backed boundaries, which go into effect in January 2027. Both of Alabama’s Democratic members of Congress are seeking reelection in their newly configured districts and are unopposed in their primaries.

In the 2nd District, where U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures is running for a second term, the Black population will go from half of the population under the current lines to about 40% under the new lines. In the 2024 presidential election, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris beat Trump in the current district, 53% to 46%. But Trump would have beaten Harris 57% to 42% if the new boundaries had been in effect in 2024.

Six Republicans are running to challenge Figures in November, including state Rep. Rhett Marques, Army veteran Joshua McKee and real estate broker Hampton Harris. Trump has endorsed Marques, who is the field’s top fundraiser.

Black residents will maintain a slight majority in the new 7th District, where U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell is running for a ninth term. Harris beat Trump, 61% to 38%, under the current boundaries and would have beaten him by slightly less, 58% to 41%, if the new boundaries had been in effect in 2024. Two Republicans, Ammie Akin and David Perry, are competing for the nomination to unseat Sewell.

Winners are in italics.

Unofficial results for contested congressional races (Republican)

39 of 40 counties reporting

U.S. Representative, 1st District
Lucas Burger — 2%
Jerry Carl — 75%
John Mills — 6%
Austin Sidwell — 18%

U.S. Representative, 2nd District
Hampton Harris — 22%
Christian Horn — 3%
Rhett Marques — 50%
David Matthews — 17%
Joshua McKee — 5%
James Richardson — 3%

U.S. Representative, 6th District
Case Dixon — 14%
Gary Palmer —86%

U.S. Representative, 7th District
Ammie Akin — 73%
David Perry — 27%

Unofficial results for contested congressional races (Democrat)

39 of 40 counties reporting

U.S. Representative, 6th District
Jacob Bouma-Sims — 6%
Ashtyn Kennedy — 21%
Maurice Mercer — 67%
Keith Pilkington — 5%