Alabama voters are once again choosing candidates for four Congressional districts following a change in the state’s district map that benefits Republicans. This redistricting is creating voter confusion.
Transcript
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Alabama voters will participate in a congressional primary for the second time on Tuesday. This special election follows redistricting prompted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to remove race as a criterion for drawing district lines, while still allowing partisan gerrymandering. NPR’s Debbie Elliott provides the report.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: So he has information (ph)…
DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE: Willie Dixon and Mary Gatson are in the fellowship hall of Beulah Primitive Baptist Church in Lowndes County, preparing for a congressional town hall and discussing last-minute changes to Alabama’s voting structure.
WILLIE DIXON: I think we’re in the same congressional district.
MARY GATSON: No, I don’t think – once they draw the lines, it’s going to be different.
ELLIOTT: Mary Gatson is correct. With new maps approved by the Alabama legislature in May, Lowndes County shifts from the 7th Congressional District to the 2nd. Dixon and Gatson are concerned this will dilute and discourage Black voters, who generally support Democrats.
DIXON: Create enough chaos, people will give up and go home.
GATSON: I think it’s very inappropriate. It’s the wrong time. No. That’s politics, though. That’s the name of the game (laughter).
DIXON: It’s not fair by no means.
GATSON: Yeah, it’s just not fair, never has been.
ELLIOTT: They claim the struggle is ongoing, highlighting Lowndes County’s pivotal role in the Selma to Montgomery voting rights march, which led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. However, in April, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a crucial part of the act, ruling in a Louisiana case that race-based district line drawing is unconstitutional, prompting several Southern states to quickly redistrict to bolster Republican influence before midterm elections.
TERRI SEWELL: This is not about no representation or some representation. It’s about fair representation.
ELLIOTT: Democratic Congresswoman Terri Sewell is one of two Black Democrats in Alabama’s congressional delegation. The other five members are white Republicans, despite Black residents making up over a quarter of the state’s population.
SEWELL: It’s unacceptable that we are living in an era where the Supreme Court has said that as long as a state articulates a legitimate partisan reason for redrawing a map or drawing a map that it’s OK, even if it discriminates against minorities.
ELLIOTT: The newly drawn map presents the greatest challenge for reelection to Shomari Figures, Alabama’s other Black member of Congress, representing the 2nd District. He was initially elected in 2024 after Black voters sued and federal courts deemed Alabama’s congressional map discriminatory, leading to the creation of a new district that included the predominantly Black cities of Mobile and Montgomery. Now, Mobile is no longer part of the district, removing Figures’ hometown. Despite the challenges, he remains determined.
SHOMARI FIGURES: There’s been a lot of efforts by some to paint this district as a lost cause…
ELLIOTT: Yeah.
FIGURES: …Saying that we lost the majority Black seat in the state of Alabama. Well, neither is true. The seat was never majority Black. It’s currently about 47% Black. The new district takes that down to about 40% Black. And so we represent everybody.
ELLIOTT: Figures faces no opposition for the Democratic nomination. However, with the potential of a district flip, six Republicans are now vying in Tuesday’s primary. Previously, only one candidate, 29-year-old Hampton Harris, was running.
HAMPTON HARRIS: I qualified for this district, got the Supreme Court ruling, qualified for the new district. I was running at one point in essentially half the state. So I was confused as the candidate. For the people that don’t really pay attention to politics, I’m sure it’s going to be extremely confusing.
ELLIOTT: He also expresses concern about voter turnout in the intense August heat in Eufaula, Alabama, as he attends a candidate forum hosted by Barbour County Republicans.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: We’re getting about ready to start, but we’ve got food in the back, if you will.
ELLIOTT: A large tent is set up behind a historic mansion, with tables decorated with red, white, and blue flowers. Before the event begins, candidate Joshua McKee converses with local officials.
JOSHUA MCKEE: I’m glad that we’ve got maps that represent the people now.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Exactly.
JERRY MCGILVRAY: Whoever would have thought – we don’t have anything in common with Mobile, Alabama.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: No.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Yeah.
MCGILVRAY: It’s the stupidest thing.
ELLIOTT: Barbour County Commissioner Jerry McGilvray comments that under the previous map, this eastern Alabama town on the Georgia state line was in the same district as Mobile, a coastal city in western Alabama near Mississippi.
MCKEE: (Inaudible) them. I always…
MCGILVRAY: I don’t want to hear about shrimp boats and deep-sea fishing.
ELLIOTT: He believes this area is more closely aligned with rural agricultural interests. The leading candidate is state Representative Rhett Marques, a businessman from Enterprise, Alabama, endorsed by President Trump. Following redistricting, he changed his campaign from the 1st Congressional District in May to the new 2nd District. Marques views this as a significant opportunity.
RHETT MARQUES: Well, this has been the way this district has been drawn for a long time, generations. And the fact that the Republicans have an ability to regain the seat is great. I love it.
ELLIOTT: Marques asserts that it’s not just about Alabama, but the potential control of Congress is at stake. Debbie Elliott, NPR News, Eufaula, Alabama.
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