WASHINGTON — As Congressman Shomari Figures prepares for a tough fight to win Alabama’s new 2nd Congressional District, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is putting its full weight behind his reelection bid.
The committee added Figures to its 2026 Frontline Incumbents list after Alabama Republicans approved a previously-struck down congressional map for this year’s elections.
A Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that weakened the Voting Right Act paved the way for the state to use its 2023 map that a lower court found to be racially discriminatory. The congressional map will likely give Republicans a 6-1 advantage in this year’s elections.
The Frontline program provides significant resources to congressional Democrats in the most competitive seats, which includes “strategic guidance, staff resources, candidate training, fundraising support, and more.”
In 2024, President Donald Trump would have won the new 2nd District by 14 points, making the seat favorable for Republicans to pick up this cycle. But Figures and Democrats are pledging to stay in the fight to try and keep two Alabama Democrats in Congress. The Cook Political Report also notes that the redrawn district will be “quite tough for any Democrat to win.”
“Our path back to the majority hinges on holding seats like Shomari’s,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene said in a statement. “Cynical efforts to racially gerrymander Shomari out of his seat and silence the voice of the people of Alabama will be rejected by voters in November, and I look forward to welcoming Shomari back to Congress.”
The new 2nd District encompasses the Wiregrass, up into Montgomery and will stop at Butler and Lowndes counties on the western side. It is about 40% Black, while the current district is nearly 49% Black.
Figures previously told Alabama Daily News that even though the newly redrawn seat favors Republicans, eight of the 13 counties in the new district will remain the same from his current district, which he said will help him make his case to voters.
The Mobile Democrat is unopposed in the primary, but will face one of six Republicans vying for the seat in the general election.
Republicans Hampton Harris, Christian Horn, Rhett Marques, David Matthews, Joshua McKee and James Richardson are all competing for the GOP nomination in the Aug. 11 special primary.
The Frontline program is supporting 26 Democratic incumbents across the country this year in competitive seats that could help decide the majority in the U.S. House next year.