Figures Holds Alabama’s 2nd District for Democrats, Beating Marques 53.8% to 46.2% on Redrawn Map

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures won a second term Tuesday in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, holding the seat for Democrats after Republican lawmakers redrew its boundaries to favor their party, according to unofficial election-night results.

Figures, D-Mobile, defeated state Rep. Rhett Marques, R-Enterprise, with 53.8% of the vote to Marques’ 46.2%, with about 91% of votes counted, according to unofficial returns. Marques conceded Tuesday night. Election results are unofficial until they are certified.

A win in a district that favored Trump

The result came in a district that President Donald Trump would have carried by 14 points under the new lines. The redrawn map reduced the district’s Black population from nearly 49% to 40%, and it added more deep-red counties in the Wiregrass. Figures was widely viewed as an underdog at the time of redistricting, even as the incumbent.

South AL News’ earlier coverage of the race showed how tight many observers believed it would be. A Republican-aligned Remington Research Group poll released late in the campaign had Marques ahead 48% to 46%, and one forecaster rated the contest “leans Republican” on Oct. 24 before calling it a tossup days later. The campaigns and outside groups also spent heavily; South AL News reported nearly $10 million in television advertising over the final seven weeks, according to AdImpact, with Democratic groups outspending Republican groups. (See what to know as Figures and Marques made their final push.)

Figures is one of a handful of Democrats nationally who held seats that Republicans tried to flip through mid-decade redistricting, according to a report on the race. That same report described Tuesday as a historic night in which Democrats took back control of Congress.

How the map changed

Figures first won the seat in 2024 under a court-ordered map that created a second Alabama district in which Black voters had an opportunity to elect their preferred candidate. That map followed a lawsuit filed in 2021 by a group of Black voters who challenged the state’s congressional lines as racial gerrymandering, and federal courts ordered new voting maps in 2023.

This year, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais changed the legal landscape. The court issued that decision on April 29, 2026, and held that the Voting Rights Act did not require Louisiana to create an additional majority-Black district. Afterward, the Alabama Legislature put its 2023 congressional map back into use over the summer. That map reshaped the 2nd District into a more Republican-leaning seat covering portions of Montgomery and the Wiregrass.

Mobile County, Figures’ hometown and former political base, is no longer in the district, as South AL News reported before the election. Figures moved his base of operations to Montgomery. He celebrated at an election night party there Tuesday.

What the candidates said

Figures referred to the redistricting fight in his victory speech.

“We know about the redistricting efforts. We know what the district was, what the district is now,” Figures said. “But we had a job to do, and so we put our hands to the plow, and we did not look backwards.”

Figures said he took inspiration from the sermon he heard at church Sunday, a passage in the Gospel of Luke about putting a hand to the plow and not looking back.

Marques said he called Figures to concede and told him he would pray for him as he begins a second term. Speaking at a watch party in Enterprise, Marques said: “This isn’t obviously what we wanted, but we were going to keep our heads up high. The country is making a change, and we need to pray for it. The mission remains the same: to save our country for generations to come.”

Figures acknowledged the call and said his prayers for Marques and his family are “the spirit that we should all have in this space.”

Marques, a small business owner who has served in the Alabama House since 2018, won the Republican nomination in an August special primary. Trump and U.S. Sen. Katie Britt endorsed him. Figures took office in January 2025.

Economic message and voter turnout

Figures built his campaign around the cost of living. “It doesn’t matter what your district lines look like when people are paying $4 a gallon for gas,” he argued on the trail, and he criticized the tariffs, particularly their effect on farmers in the rural district. Marques framed the contest as a national fight against the “far left” and socialism.

Michael Lowry, a Republican pollster, said Figures “completely outperformed and demonstrated a focused approach on what voters what and need, in this case, economic concerns.”

Supporters in Montgomery pointed to both economic anger and anger over redistricting. Allie Reddick, a Democrat from rural Coffee County who drove voters to the polls from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., said: “You’re trying to steal votes? You’re trying to cut us out? You don’t want Black representation in Congress, you want all white representation? Well, we’ll show up to vote.”

Khadidah Stone, one of the Black voters who sued Alabama in 2021, said she “stared at the wall for a week” when she learned of the Supreme Court decision. On Election Day she staffed a coffee and donut table outside a polling place at St. Paul AME in Montgomery and described the turnout as “the most turnout I’ve seen in a very long time.” Shalela Dowdy, another original plaintiff, said the outreach showed “you can go across party lines, have conversations about what true representation looks like.”

Local officials in Montgomery credited Figures for his involvement with Jackson Hospital. Councilman Oronde Mitchell said, “We almost lost Jackson Hospital. He came in and made sure everyone was at the table.” Councilwoman Fernetta DeLayne said voters want a lower cost of living: “When you hit people in their wallet, they’re going to get out and make a difference.”

In the final days, Figures headlined a Monday rally at the Alabama State University Acadome with performances by King George and Lil Baby. Trump had campaigned for Marques in October.

What comes next

Figures said he plans to work with members of the state’s congressional delegation and with business interests that campaigned against him, and with Trump, though Trump endorsed Marques. “People here in the state of Alabama cannot wait two years to see progress,” he said. “So we are going to go to work, even with Donald Trump, because that is what this district requires.”

Figures said his priorities include lowering the cost of living and winning help for Alabama farmers who face high diesel and fuel prices and tariffs. He also called for an end to the war in Iran. He will begin his new term in January 2027.

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, won reelection in the 7th Congressional District. With Figures’ win, Alabama will keep two Black members of Congress, and the delegation will remain 5-2 Republican next year.

Figures is the son of state Sen. Vivian Figures and civil rights lawyer Michael Figures. For the election-night vote counts, see South AL News’ partial, unofficial returns report.

Update: Why Figures won on a redrawn map

Analysts say a national Democratic wave was only part of the story. Auburn political science professor Joseph Aistrup said the result partly reflected reaction to court rulings that have weakened the Voting Rights Act, and that Figures ran “the only campaign in the state that was well financed and well supported by national Democrats.” Figures raised more than $2.7 million, about a million more than Marques, and the House Democratic campaign arm and outside groups spent millions more.

Benjamin Gross of Jacksonville State University’s Center of Leadership and American Principles said Figures outperformed Democratic congressional candidates from 2024 in each county, especially in counties that moved into the district this year such as Coffee, Dale, Houston, Henry and Geneva. “It’s that voters who didn’t feel that their vote mattered, or didn’t feel like they were part of the political process, or didn’t become engaged in the political process, became engaged this time,” he said.

Turnout rose sharply around the capital. Montgomery County reached 50%, about 14 points above the 2022 midterm, and Bullock County hit 54%, up from 37%. Macon County saw an 11% increase. Turnout also ticked up in the Wiregrass: Coffee County was at 41%, Houston at 40% and Geneva at 44%. Compared with the 2024 presidential election, every county in the new district except Covington, which sits mainly in the 1st District, shifted toward Democrats by at least double digits.