MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The two candidates for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, which was redrawn by a federal court after a lengthy redistricting battle, made their final campaign pushes this week, seeking to drive turnout in the race that could play a role in the battle for control of the U.S.
House of Representatives. The once safe Republican seat was reshaped after a federal court ruled Alabama had illegally diluted the power of Black voters. The non-partisan Cook Political Report ranks the new district, where Black voters make up nearly 49% of the voting-age population, as “likely Democrat.
” But both campaigns have said the seat is competitive. In their closing messages, both candidates emphasized a push for voter turnout. Standing near a statue of Rosa Parks in downtown Montgomery, Shomari Figures, the Democratic nominee, on Thursday called the race an opportunity to build upon the progress of the civil rights movement.
Figures, the son of a civil rights attorney and Alabama legislator, worked as a top aide to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and as an aide in the Obama White House.
“When you grow up in Mobile and in Alabama you learn very very early in life the role that the federal government has had to play in making the state do right by its people,” Figures said during a stop in Mobile. Figures has emphasized the need to work on longstanding problems with health care, infrastructure and education, often noting that Alabamians have among the lo.
