Democrat Shomari Figures wins Alabama's redrawn 2nd Congressional District
Shomari Figures will become the first Black person to hold the seat in Alabama after it was created after a Supreme Court battle.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat running to represent Alabama's 2nd Congressional District which was redrawn by a federal court order, has won the seat over Republican challenger Caroleene Dobson, according to The Associated Press.
Originally from Mobile, Alabama, Figures is the son of state Sen. Vivian Figures and former state Sen. Michael Figures. He served in the White House and the Department of Justice during the Obama administration's second term.
Shomari Figures later served as deputy chief of staff and counselor to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland during the Biden administration.
"We're grateful that we have the opportunity to sit here today and be elected, to be put in a position to go do the work," Shomari Figures said. "But now we got to do the work."
He said he wants to expand Medicaid in the state and create better infrastructure in the district.
The last time the district had a Democratic representative was in 2008. At the time, Alabama had three Democrats in the U.S. House; Reps. Bobby Bright of the 2nd District; Parker Griffith in the 5th; and Artur Davis in the 7th.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the state's previous congressional lines discriminated against Black voters and carved out a new district that was expected to lean Democratic. Chief Justice John Roberts, along with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson voted in favor, with Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett dissenting.
While the state legislature initially refused to do so, a new map was drawn, creating new competitive congressional primaries.
With the re-election of U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell on Tuesday, Alabama now has two Democrats in Congress.
Victor Hagan is the Alabama Election Reporting Fellow for the Paste BN Network. He can be reached at vhagan@gannett.com or on X @TheVictorHagan.