Two-term state Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, announced his reelection bid on Wednesday, two days after a federal court approved new lines that make his district majority minority.
The state is appealing U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco’s order said the new map will be used in the 2026 and 2030 state Senate elections, and any special elections, until new lines are drawn by the Legislature after the 2030 census.
She previously ruled the current state Senate map violated the Voting Rights Act by illegally diluting the influence of Black voters around the capital city.
The new map impacts Senate District 25, currently held by Barfoot, and Senate District 26, held by Sen. Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery. It stretches Hatcher’s district into Elmore County, while giving Barfoot more of Montgomery.
Barfoot, an attorney who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the change of district doesn’t change his campaign messaging, Barfoot told Alabama Daily News on Wednesday.
“I am who I am and will run on the priorities, the things I believe personally and the things I believe the voters of Alabama want,” he said Wednesday. “My philosophy doesn’t change with the lines being redrawn.”
The new map takes Barfoot’s SD 25 out of Elmore County and more into the city of Montgomery.
Barfoot currently represents a smaller portion of the city.
“The truth of the matter is. Montgomery, whether you’re on the east side, the west side, north or south, all Montgomerians face the same issues,” Barfoot said. “A high volatility of crime … the desire for good-paying jobs. The district lines in Montgomery don’t change the needs that Montgomery has.”
The new map selected by Manasco, one of three proposed maps drawn by a special master, was opposed by plaintiffs because of what it does to SD26, Hatcher’s district.
Lawyers for plaintiffs said the plan creates an opportunity district in Senate District 25 “at the expense of the existing opportunity in SD26.”
Reached Wednesday, Hatcher said he’s not yet commenting on the new districts.
The Black voting-age population is 51.1% of District 25 and 43.9% of District 26, according to the special master’s analysis. A Black-preferred candidate wins election in Senate District 25 in about 88% of the seventeen elections analyzed by the special master. In Senate District 26, a Black-preferred candidate wins approximately 53% of the seventeen elections analyzed. Candidates in both parties can qualify for 2026 races in January. Meanwhile, Senate
President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, recently filed legislation that, if passed early in the upcoming legislative session, would let the governor call a special primary race in congressional or State House races if district lines were altered “too late to be accommodated during the normal primary election schedule …”
Gudger filed that bill as Alabama and other states await a U.S. Supreme Court decision on a Louisiana case that could place further limits on using race when drawing congressional maps.
Barfoot so far is the only candidate raising funds for the 2026 contest. He has about $373,000 on hand, according to the most recent campaign filing information available.
Similarly, Hatcher is the sole candidate so far raising money in his district. He has more than $95,000 on hand.