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New Alabama Congressional District Selects Candidates
On April 16, 2024, Alabama voters selected candidates for the newly created 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. This race is being closely watched by political analysts.
New Congressional District
In 2023, a panel of U.S. District Court judges approved a new congressional district map for Alabama. Federal judges had ruled that the previous maps violated the Voting Rights Act (1965). This Act was a key component of the federal laws passed during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and gave the U.S. government power to protect voters from discriminatory practices passed by state governments. The maps violated the Act because they packed African American voters into a single district. There are 7 Congressional districts in Alabama. African Americans are around 27 percent of Alabama’s population and, under the Voting Rights Act, should have a more equal opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.
The latest Alabama congressional map with the new 2nd Congressional District more accurately reflects the state’s population distribution. The new district is a near majority African American district. Now, one of the seven districts has a majority African American population and another has a near majority.
Selecting Candidates
The Republican and Democratic parties held primaries on March 5, 2024, to select candidates for the general election in November of this year. However, no candidates for either party in the U.S. House of Representatives race in the 2nd Congressional District won over 50 percent of the vote. The state requires a primary runoff between the top two candidates when no candidate wins a majority.
The candidates with the most votes in the Republican primary were Dick Brewbaker and Caroleene Dobson. Brewbaker is a former Alabama State Senator. Dobson is an attorney who has never held public office. Dobson defeated Brewbaker in the runoff election with 58.4 percent of the vote.
The candidates with the most votes in the Democratic primary were Anthony Daniels and Shomari Figures. Daniels is the current minority leader in the Alabama House of Representatives. Figures is a former federal worker in the Obama administration and U.S. Congress. Figures won the primary runoff with 61 percent of the vote.
Figures and Caroleene Dobson are on the ballot for the November general election for the Alabama 2nd Congressional District.
Partisan Balance
Every seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is up for election in November 2024. Republicans currently have a small majority in the House with 218 seats. Democrats hold 213 seats, and there are four vacancies. Because the Republican majority is so slim, both parties are fighting to keep or gain seats in the November general election.
Political analysts think Alabama’s new 2nd Congressional District will play a key role in the November election. A victory for the Republican or Democratic candidate in the November general election could change which party holds the power in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Dig Deeper Conduct research to identify how many congressional districts are in your state. Which district do you live in? Who are the candidates running to represent your district in the U.S. House of Representatives this November?
