Kay Ivey
Alabama Governor who voided four congressional primaries after a mid-vote map reversal.
Last refreshed: 19 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why did Alabama void four ongoing primaries, and who pays for the re-run?
Timeline for Kay Ivey
Declared four district primary results void and scheduled 11 August special primary
US Midterms 2026: Alabama voids its own primary mid-vote- Why did Alabama void its own primary elections in May 2026?
- Alabama's four congressional primaries on 19 May 2026 were declared legally void after the US Supreme Court vacated a court order requiring a second majority-Black district, clearing a new post-Callais map that had not been in effect when the primaries were held.Source: Lowdown
- When is Alabama's redistricting re-do primary?
- Governor Kay Ivey scheduled a special re-do primary for 11 August 2026 under the redrawn congressional map that eliminates the majority-Black district held by Shomari Figures.Source: Lowdown
- How long has Kay Ivey been Governor of Alabama?
- Kay Ivey has served as Governor since 2017, initially taking office when Robert Bentley resigned. She was elected in her own right in 2018 and re-elected in 2022.
- What does the post-Callais map do to Alabama's Black congressional seat?
- The redrawn post-Callais map eliminates the Mobile-based district held by Shomari Figures, Alabama's only Black congressman in the modern era. Governor Ivey signed the new map that the August 2026 re-do primary will operate under.Source: Lowdown
Background
Kay Ivey is at the centre of one of the most legally chaotic redistricting episodes of the 2026 cycle. After the US Supreme Court vacated the lower-court order requiring a second majority-Black district on 12 May 2026, Ivey scheduled a special re-do primary for 11 August 2026 under the redrawn post-Callais map — even as four congressional primaries were being counted on 19 May under the old map. Those results will be declared legally void.
Ivey has served as Alabama's Governor since 2017, taking office after Robert Bentley resigned. She was elected in her own right in 2018 and re-elected in 2022, making her one of the longest-serving GOP governors in the South. A former state treasurer and lieutenant governor, she has been a reliable ally of Republican redistricting efforts, signing the post-Callais congressional map that eliminates the district held by Shomari Figures, Alabama's only Black congressman from Mobile.
The voiding of four live primaries is unprecedented in modern Alabama politics. The episode illustrates the downstream chaos that Louisiana v. Callais has introduced: states that moved quickly to redraw maps now face the prospect of holding multiple expensive primary elections for seats whose boundaries are still in flux.