Rhett Marques Thanks Trump at Mobile Rally, Says Figures ‘Caves’ to Radical Left in 2nd District Race

MOBILE, Ala. — State Rep. Rhett Marques thanked President Donald Trump for his endorsement from the stage of the president’s Mobile rally on Friday and told the crowd that U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, the Democrat he is trying to unseat in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, “caves” whenever the “radical left” comes calling.

Marques, a Republican from Enterprise, spoke to the audience at the University of South Alabama’s Mitchell Center during the program leading up to Trump’s arrival, and he returned to the stage later in the evening when the president called several Alabama candidates up beside him. His race against Figures is widely viewed as the most competitive congressional contest in the state this fall.

“I’m Rhett Marques, and I’m running to turn Alabama’s Second Congressional District from blue to RED!” he told the crowd, a line he also delivered as running to turn the district “from blue back to red.”

Who is Rhett Marques?

Marques has represented his district in the Alabama House of Representatives since 2018 and ran a tire shop in Enterprise for more than two decades. Trump endorsed him in June, and in August he won the Republican nomination with 50% of the vote in a six-candidate special primary.

He initially entered the congressional contest in the 1st District before running in the 2nd. U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, who also spoke Friday, has backed him since the day he entered the race last year.

Britt gave his campaign the maximum $10,000 contribution from her leadership PAC, Alabama First, calling him “a great friend and a strong conservative fighter who has always had my back and President Trump’s.” While Marques was still running in the 1st District, she campaigned with him in Orange Beach and called him “the America First winner.”

When Trump endorsed Marques in June, the president wrote that he is “strongly supported by many of the Greatest MAGA Warriors in Alabama, including my friend, U.S. Senator Katie Britt.” On the night he won the nomination in August, Marques returned the credit. “This all started with somebody we all know, and most of us all love, Katie Britt,” he said then. “Without Katie, without Senator Britt, rather, I promise you, and I can’t stress this enough, I would not be standing right here before you.”

On Friday, Marques described himself in personal terms. “Y’all, I’m just a small business owner who loves our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I love my wife of 32 years, Christina, and our two beautiful daughters. I love this state. And I love this country,” he said.

Crediting Trump for Alabama’s economic growth

Much of Marques’ speech focused on the president’s record and its effects on Alabama.

“And right here in Alabama, the largest economic development projects in our state’s history are happening under President Trump’s leadership,” Marques said. “We’re growing more good-paying jobs. Bringing in manufacturing, and investing in our infrastructure, education, and rural health care.”

“All because of President Trump. He loves Alabama. And Alabama loves President Trump!” he said. “Mr. President, I want to personally thank you for your endorsement and your support.”

Marques also praised Trump’s immigration and border policies, saying there have been zero illegal border crossings in recent months and the largest drop in violent crime in recent history. “President Trump has delivered the biggest tax cut in recent history for working families,” he said.

Hours before the rally, Gov. Kay Ivey and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy broke ground in Mobile on the $3.2 billion Mobile River Bridge and Bayway, the largest transportation project in state history. The Trump administration finalized a $2.52 billion federal loan for the project in September.

Marques targets Figures on taxes and crime

Marques repeated criticism of Figures’ votes on taxes that he first leveled last month.

“He voted against no tax on tips. Against no tax on overtime. He voted to tax your Social Security,” Marques said.

Before he was elected to Congress, Figures was a top aide to Merrick Garland, who served as attorney general under former President Joe Biden. Marques used that background to attack the congressman.

“Since he’s gotten to Congress, Shomari Figures has sold out Alabama families at every turn,” Marques said. “Just like when he worked for Joe Biden and supervised the release of violent murderers and drug traffickers right back into our communities.”

“When the radical left comes asking, Shomari caves,” he said. “He caves on protecting our daughters and keeping men out of girls’ locker rooms. He caves on keeping dangerous criminal illegal aliens off our streets.”

“In Alabama’s Second District, the choice on the ballot truly comes down to two things: Craziness or common sense,” Marques said. “It’s that simple.”

What Figures says

Figures, a first-term Democrat from Mobile, has dismissed the significance of Trump’s visit. He said ahead of the rally that he was not thinking about it “at all.”

“We know people here are tired of Trump,” Figures said. “They’ve reached a sort of fever pitch of tolerance of this administration, of its corruption, of the policies that have been harming people in Alabama.”

In a phone interview Thursday, Figures said Trump was “attempting to go somewhere where he thinks he will be well received ahead of the midterm election, but I don’t know that to be the case necessarily in Alabama anymore when you look at the issues that people have with fuel prices; when you look at the impact that the tariffs have had with farmers.”

Before the rally, Marques framed Trump’s appearance in similar terms to his speech. “It’s always great to have President Trump back in Alabama to rally voters to stand up for common sense and stop the crazy agenda of Shomari Figures and his radical socialist party that wants to ruin our state and country,” he said.

Why the 2nd District matters to Republicans

The 2nd District has been redrawn under a new congressional map, and the new lines were designed to help Republicans win back the seat. Democrats, however, are not conceding it, and national Democrats call the race a toss-up.

Marques told the crowd the contest has implications far beyond Alabama. “This race is critical to keeping control of the House and keeping it in the hands of conservative Republicans,” he said. “If the socialists get control of the House, their plan is to undo everything President Trump has done over the last two years. We can’t let that happen.”

Other Republicans on the program echoed that point. U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate, urged the audience to support Marques. “Out of 435 House seats that are about 18 that are in play in America. We need to hold six. Rhett’s seat is one of those key votes,” Moore said.

Katherine Robertson, the Republican nominee for Alabama attorney general, said the rally was meant to boost the party’s candidates, “most especially” Marques. “The seat Rhett is running for is absolutely critical to maintaining a Republican majority in Congress and that’s why liberals tried to take that seat from us,” Robertson said.

Trump, in his own speech, singled out the race, telling the crowd to back a “new one” in Marques. “You’re the only one a little close because it’s new, it’s fresh,” Trump said of the contest with Figures.

A rally outside his district

Although Marques is one of the headline candidates of the fall campaign, Friday’s rally was not held in the district he is seeking to represent. Under the new map, Mobile is part of the 1st Congressional District, which is rated solidly Republican.

Benjamin Gross, director of the Center of Leadership and American Principles at Jacksonville State University, said holding the event in a safe Republican seat could help Trump avoid prompting a wave of Democratic spending in the 2nd District that a visit there might trigger.

Joseph Aistrup, a political science professor at Auburn University, said a presidential stop can push supporters to give more to candidates, but added that research suggests Trump’s presence can also mobilize Democrats to turn out and donate.

‘I will never let you down’

Marques said that, if elected, he would work with the state’s Republican leaders in Washington.

“And I’ll work alongside President Trump, Senator Katie Britt, and future Senator Barry Moore to put hardworking Alabama families first,” Marques said. “I’ll take some much-needed Alabama common sense to Washington, D.C.”

He closed by borrowing the promise Trump made at the end of his June endorsement — “HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!” — and making it his own.

“I’m asking for your vote on November 3rd, and I promise you this: I will never let you down,” Marques said.

When Trump later invited Marques back on stage, the candidate made a brief turnout appeal. “We need to get everyone out to vote,” he said. “We need to get our mothers and brothers to go out to vote. We will win because we are Republicans.”

What happens next

The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters in the 2nd Congressional District will choose between Marques and Figures, while voters statewide will also decide races for governor, lieutenant governor and U.S. Senate.

Because district lines changed under the new map, voters who are unsure which congressional district they live in can check their sample ballot or registration information through the Alabama Secretary of State’s office or their county board of registrars. Alabama voters must show an approved photo ID at the polls, which are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.