Alabama Democrats Mobilize Behind Aura of Backlash Amid Voting Rights Retractions
Doug Jones, a former senator, and Shomari Figures, a currently endangered representative, have previous conflicts in Alabama politics.
Mr. Jones lost his Senate seat in 2020 to longtime opponent Tommy Tuberville, a former college football coach, and aims to defeat him again in the November gubernatorial election.
Mr. Figures secured a House district in 2024 following a reapportionment that enhanced Black voter representation, only to face newly drawn district lines engineered to favor a Republican candidate.
Like fellow Democrats, both men seek robust Black voter participation in November, energized and irritated by the Supreme Court’s April ruling that curtailed protections under the Voting Rights Act and sparked a wave of redistricting across the South.
“They know their votes aren’t counted equally,” Mr. Jones told reporters during a town hall in Troy, Ala., on Tuesday. He further noted that voters were taking notice and expressing dissatisfaction.
Voting rights remain deeply personal in Alabama, where generations of white resistance during the civil‑rights era led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Earlier this spring, citing a Louisiana lawsuit, the Supreme Court lifted restrictions from the Voting Rights Act, allowing Tennessee, Louisiana, and Alabama to rapidly redraw districts that dilute Black representation and tip outcomes toward the GOP.
Alabama’s Legislature recalibrated the Second Congressional District, where Mr. Figures’s 2024 victory created the state’s first pair of Black representatives—including himself and Representative Terri Sewell.
“Two sounded like treating our children to candy—we were thrilled,” said Gwendolyn Davis, 67, leaving the Troy town hall clutching yard signs. She continued, ‘Despite one drawing by a pen from another state, we’ll fight to ensure our voices matter in Congress.’
She vowed, ‘Whatever it takes, I will push hard to confirm how vital this issue remains.’
The revised Second District was built to disadvantage Democrats by merging primarily Black Montgomery with portions of the southeastern Wiregrass region, thereby lightening its Black share and leaning conservative.
Prior to that, older boundary lines extended far across the state, connecting voters from Montgomery and mobile to counties in rural districts formerly settled by enslaved labor.
Senator Tommy Tuberville and Republican state representative Rhett Marques both endorsed the new map and are likely to succeed, even without President Trump on the ballot—Alabama remains strongly Republican.
Backed by the former president, their campaigns portray Democratic opponents as extremists. In a primary night address this week, Mr. Marques framed the contest as a choice between “craziness and common sense.”
Nevertheless, Democrats retain hope, foreseeing that opposition to the refreshed maps will supercharge Black voter turnout as President Trump’s declining approval drives conservative disengagement.
This wider campaign effort reaches beyond Alabama. On Wednesday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee rolled out digital ads in New York, Nebraska, and Ohio House races to activate Black voters, many of whom invoked voting‑rights rhetoric.
Those efforts echoed last May’s civil‑rights‑centered outreach across 21 districts nationwide.
Observations suggest Black voters are becoming highly active, motivated by issues extending beyond voting‑rights statutes alone. In the recent Wisconsin governorship primary, Democratic nominee David Crowley—Milwaukee’s leading Black executive—overwhelmingly defeated Francesca Hong, a socialist who struggled to sway Black voters, hinting that Milwaukee will prove decisive.
Similarly, in Michigan earlier this month, progressive physician Abdul El‑Sayed, originally poised for a Senate triumph, came narrowly out of the race when Representative Haley Stevens flipped expectations, drawing a surprising breakthrough in Detroit and Flint.
For Jones and Figures alike, the civil‑rights narrative feels inevitable. Formerly a U.S. attorney in Birmingham, Mr. Jones previously headed the effort that convicted two KKK members responsible for a 1963 church bombing that killed four Black girls.
Michael Figures, his son, served as a state senator and civil‑rights lawyer, suing both the Klan and Alabama over congressional maps decades ago; that litigation birthed the state’s first majority‑Black district.
This campaign season, Mr. Jones and Mr. Figures have aligned, holding joint town halls in Troy and Montgomery to interrogate their opponents.
“They must do everything possible to curtail representation,” Mr. Figures declared to supporters at Troy University.
“They rewrote my district to further that goal,” he added. „We will win in November.”
The former senator has emphasized aggressive outreach in heavily Black regions such as rural Greene County, which boasts roughly 79 % Black population and saw elevated turnout in its May primary.
Last month, Mr. Jones told residents at the Greene County Courthouse that upcoming congressional lines would ensure black voters garner representation in Washington.
Advisors caution, though, that the new redistricting could also depress participation among disengaged Black Alabamians—activation requires concerted effort.
Mr. Jones lost his Senate seat in 2020 to longtime opponent Tommy Tuberville, a former college football coach, and aims to defeat him again in the November gubernatorial election.
Mr. Figures secured a House district in 2024 following a reapportionment that enhanced Black voter representation, only to face newly drawn district lines engineered to favor a Republican candidate.
Like fellow Democrats, both men seek robust Black voter participation in November, energized and irritated by the Supreme Court’s April ruling that curtailed protections under the Voting Rights Act and sparked a wave of redistricting across the South.
“They know their votes aren’t counted equally,” Mr. Jones told reporters during a town hall in Troy, Ala., on Tuesday. He further noted that voters were taking notice and expressing dissatisfaction.
Voting rights remain deeply personal in Alabama, where generations of white resistance during the civil‑rights era led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Earlier this spring, citing a Louisiana lawsuit, the Supreme Court lifted restrictions from the Voting Rights Act, allowing Tennessee, Louisiana, and Alabama to rapidly redraw districts that dilute Black representation and tip outcomes toward the GOP.
Alabama’s Legislature recalibrated the Second Congressional District, where Mr. Figures’s 2024 victory created the state’s first pair of Black representatives—including himself and Representative Terri Sewell.
“Two sounded like treating our children to candy—we were thrilled,” said Gwendolyn Davis, 67, leaving the Troy town hall clutching yard signs. She continued, ‘Despite one drawing by a pen from another state, we’ll fight to ensure our voices matter in Congress.’
She vowed, ‘Whatever it takes, I will push hard to confirm how vital this issue remains.’
The revised Second District was built to disadvantage Democrats by merging primarily Black Montgomery with portions of the southeastern Wiregrass region, thereby lightening its Black share and leaning conservative.
Prior to that, older boundary lines stretched far across the state, connecting voters from Montgomery and mobile to counties in rural districts formerly settled by enslaved labor.
Senator Tommy Tuberville and Republican state representative Rhett Marques both endorsed the new map and are likely to succeed, even without President Trump on the ballot—Alabama remains strongly Republican.
Backed by the former president, their campaigns portray Democratic opponents as extremists. In a primary night address this week, Mr. Marques framed the contest as a choice between “craziness and common sense.”
Nevertheless, Democrats retain hope, foreseeing that opposition to the refreshed maps will supercharge Black voter turnout as President Trump’s declining approval drives conservative disengagement.
This wider campaign effort reaches beyond Alabama. On Wednesday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee rolled out digital ads in New York, Nebraska, and Ohio House races to activate Black voters, many of whom invoked voting‑rights rhetoric.
Those efforts echoed last May’s civil‑rights‑centered outreach across 21 districts nationwide.
Observations suggest Black voters are becoming highly active, motivated by issues extending beyond voting‑rights statutes alone. In the recent Wisconsin governorship primary, Democratic nominee David Crowley—Milwaukee’s leading Black executive—overwhelmingly defeated Francesca Hong, a socialist who struggled to sway Black voters, hinting that Milwaukee will prove decisive.
Similarly, in Michigan earlier this month, progressive physician Abdul El‑Sayed, originally poised for a Senate triumph, came narrowly out of the race when Representative Haley Stevens flipped expectations, drawing a surprising breakdown in Detroit and Flint.
For Jones and Figures alike, the civil‑rights narrative feels inevitable. Formerly a U.S. attorney in Birmingham, Mr. Jones previously headed the effort that convicted two KKK members responsible for a 1963 church bombing that killed four Black girls.
Michael Figures, his son, served as a state senator and civil‑rights lawyer, suing both the Klan and Alabama over congressional maps decades ago; that litigation birthed the state’s first majority‑Black district.
This campaign season, Mr. Jones and Mr. Figures have aligned, holding joint town halls in Troy and Montgomery to interrogate their opponents.
>“The Voting Rights Act stands at the forefront of the fall race, and public energy is undeniable.”