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Shomari Figures: Voting Rights Act is dead after Supreme Court’s ‘dangerous’ Alabama ruling
U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures’ congressional seat in south Alabama is at the heart of Alabama’s five-year battle over redistricting.
After a Supreme Court ruling Tuesday, he is now at risk of losing that seat.
He is running for reelection in the 2nd Congressional District in south Alabama, but the courts will let Alabama use a district map that is more friendly to Republicans.
The Democrat said he plans to continue to fight for the seat, but called out efforts to limit Black voting power.
“The Supreme Court has now confirmed that there is no longer a Voting Rights Act in America, and states are essentially free to discriminate against minority voters with no consequences,” he said in a statement.
“This is a dangerous ruling that sets the State and this nation back decades.”
Figures won his seat in 2024 after courts told Alabama the state should make sure two of its seven congressional districts were “opportunity districts,” meaning Black residents had a meaningful chance to elect a candidate of their choice.
That year, Alabama elected two Black Democrats to Congress for the first time -- Figures and Rep. Terri Sewell.
“Too many people fought and sacrificed for me to have the opportunity to serve in Congress for me to just walk away,” he said.
“I will stay in this fight to build a better future for Alabama and a better country. I will not be deterred by this coordinated effort to stack the deck for Republicans to retain power in November -- and I know voters won’t be deterred either. We have to remind America and Alabama what the power of organizing, mobilizing, and voting looks like. And we will do just that.”
The special primary election for candidates in the redrawn 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Congressional Districts is Aug. 11.
Figures is the only candidate running in the District 2 Democratic primary.
On the Republican side, Hampton Harris, who was the only Republican to qualify in the district for the May 19 primary, will face Christian Horn, David Matthews, and James Richardson, who ran in District 1 on May 19.