Cory Booker

The bowl of Birmingham’s Boutwell Auditorium was filled with people gathered Monday night for what was both a political pep rally and call to action from New Jersey U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell.

While the event took place in downtown Birmingham, the main focus was activity taking place 100 miles away at the Statehouse in Montgomery as the GOP-dominated Legislature took steps to redraw congressional state senate maps.

“It is a perfect storm,” said Doug Jones, a former U.S. Senator and a Democratic candidate for governor as he introduced Booker. “We have got a fight on our hands. We have seen this plan in Alabama before, and we don’t like it.”

Jones called Alabama “ground zero for voting rights.”

The entire evening was not all serious. The crowd erupted when Booker greeted Jones, his former Senate colleague, by lifting him up with a bear hug and wishing him a happy birthday.

The conversation quickly went back to news at the political forefront - voting rights and district lines across the state.

The actions of Alabama lawmakers come after a Supreme Court ruling last week in a Louisiana case that weakens a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that allows race as a factor when drawing lines to give minority voters opportunities to elect representatives of their choice.

Now state lawmakers are working to restore old maps that would take away at least one recently ordered district with a sizable minority population led by Rep. Shomari Figures. Their potential actions also threaten the other congressional district represented by Sewell. Both are Democrats and Black while the rest of Alabama’s delegation are Republican and white.

“This is not a time to let six people think they have more power than the millions of Americans who believe in democracy more than they do on the Supreme Court,” Booker said.

Booker sat with Sewell for a conversation that centered on voting rights but also touched on the war in Iran and the economy.

Booker was critical of President Donald Trump, whom he described as “cruel, corrupt, chaotic and causing costs to soar.”

However, he also offered criticism and advice to his own party, saying that Democrats must prove that they are running for something and not simply against the alternative. Additionally, Booker said his party must offer solutions to problems that impact all Americans.

“The Democratic Party has failed to make Americans believe that when we have power we will deliver real results that Americans feel,” he said, adding that the party must share its platform of shared economic growth.

Booker also urged more national effort to support Democrats in traditionally Republican areas such as Alabama.

“Our party has missed the moment too,” Booker said. “The Democratic Party makes a mistake by not putting more resources into Democratic elections down here in your state. You can’t expect a harvest if you don’t plant some seeds. You can’t expect a harvest if you don’t work the soil and support those people who are doing the work of Democracy.”

Booker noted the growth of newcomers to the South and said Democrats will not win the White House unless they do a better job of turning red states blue.

Monday’s gathering was sponsored by Blueprint Alabama, a Democratic political action committee. It was the third major event for the organization following rallies featuring Doug Jones last November and former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg in March.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin greeted the crowd earlier and reminded them of Birmingham’s history as a civil rights epicenter of the 1960s.

“We come from a legacy of people who were willing to fight for what’s right,” he said. “We have to fight for fairness.”