DOTHAN, Ala. — Democratic U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures’ reelection bid got a boost Thursday from a prominent Democratic leader, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who joined the congressman on the campaign trail.
With a little over a week left before the general election, the race for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District has received national attention as both parties try to motivate voters to head to the polls in one of the most closely watched elections in the state. Figures is facing Republican State Rep. Rhett Marques.
In Dothan, Booker fired up a crowd of at least 300 people, some stopping by during their lunch breaks, to support Figures and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Doug Jones.
The New Jersey senator referenced the mid-decade redistricting that Alabama Republicans pursued after the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callias ruling to make Figures’ old 2nd District GOP-friendly this year, including by adding deep-red Houston County back to the district.
President Donald Trump would have won the new 2nd District by about 14 points in 2024, but Democrats have raised and spent heavily to back Figures in the race.
On Friday, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the race in Democrats’ favor, though it still rates it lean Republican.
“Our history here in Alabama is a perpetual testimony to the achievement of impossible things against impossible odds,” Booker said. “When the returns come in, and I see your governor Doug Jones, and I see the reelection of Shomari figures, I’m gonna say hallelujah, hallelujah.”
Besides his personal relationships with Figures and Jones, Booker said he chose to visit Alabama to honor his great-grandfather who was born in Dothan.
“I owe a debt to this community, the soil of this state,” Booker told the crowd. “I am the fruit from labors past of folk who did not give up on the American dream.”
As Figures took the stage, he noted the energy inside the room for Democratic candidates in the traditionally conservative Wiregrass.
“When is the last time you’ve seen a room like this in Dothan, Alabama?” Figures rhetorically asked.
The Alabama Democrat immediately appealed to farmers in the district and brought up Ron Sparks, the Democratic nominee for Alabama’s agriculture commissioner. Former Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, a farmer and moderate, also spoke to attendees.
“We know the struggles of our farmers,” Figures said. “We know the struggles of everyone who’s connected to our farming industry.”
Much of Figures’ message to voters focused on the pain of farmers, high gas prices, and standing up to corruption in a bid to connect with Alabama voters across the political spectrum.
“What we see are people who are paying $4 a gallon for gas, and when they go to the pump, one of the options is not whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican before you’re forced to pay that price,” Figures told Alabama Daily News after the Dothan rally. “And so we think people are seeing through the foolishness.”
In response to Figures’ campaign events with Booker, Marques connected Figures to the larger Democratic Party and warned against the “socialist far-left” taking control of Congress if Figures wins the seat.
“Cory Booker is one of the softest-on-crime extremists in Congress, so it’s no surprise he’s in lockstep with Shomari Figures, who has made a career working to put more criminals back on our streets,” Marques said in a statement.
Earlier in the week, Marques campaigned with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise in Dothan in an effort to boost GOP enthusiasm and turnout.
Later Thursday, Figures’ campaign rallied in Montgomery, the main Democratic base of the new 2nd Congressional District, with Booker and Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell, who’s running against Republican Ammie Akin in Alabama’s 7th Congressional District.
After redistricting removed Figures’ hometown of Mobile from the new district, Figures told the crowd Montgomery’s civil rights history ties him to the capital city.
“If you are a product of the civil rights movement, whether you are in Mobile, Alabama, or New Jersey, Montgomery is your home. Montgomery is where it all started,” Figures said.
The general election is Nov. 3.