Voters to decide primary runoffs in Alabama’s new 2nd Congressional District

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama voters are set to cast their ballots Tuesday to decide party nominees for the state’s 2nd Congressional District, which was redrawn by a federal court to boost the voting power of Black residents.

The outcome of the hotly contested runoffs will set the match for the closely watched November race. Democrats are aiming to flip the Deep South seat, and Republicans, with control of the U.S. House of Representatives on the line, will try to keep it under the GOP column.

A federal court redrew the district in October after ruling that the state’s previous congressional map — which had only one majority-Black district out of seven in a state that is about 27% Black — illegally diluted the voting power of Black residents. The new district stretches the width of the state, including Mobile, the capital of Montgomery and the state’s Black Belt.

For the Democratic nomination, Shomari Figures, former deputy chief of staff and counselor to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, faces off against state Rep. Anthony Daniels, the minority leader of the state House. On the Republican side, former state Sen. Dick Brewbaker faces real estate attorney and political newcomer Caroleene Dobson to decide the party’s nomination.

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