Shomari Figures
Democratic Alabama congressman whose Mobile majority-Black district is eliminated under the post-Callais map.
Last refreshed: 19 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can Shomari Figures survive the redraw that was designed to eliminate his seat?
Timeline for Shomari Figures
Faced elimination of his Mobile-area seat under the post-Callais redrawn map
US Midterms 2026: Alabama voids its own primary mid-vote- Who is Shomari Figures and why is his seat being eliminated?
- Shomari Figures is Alabama's only Black congressman, first elected in 2024 from a majority-Black district created by federal court order after Allen v. Milligan. The post-Callais redistricting removes that district, and a re-do primary under the new map is scheduled for 11 August 2026.Source: Lowdown
- What happens to Shomari Figures after the Alabama primary void?
- The four May 2026 primaries — including his — will be declared void. He faces a re-do special primary on 11 August 2026 under a redrawn map that eliminates the majority-Black configuration of his Mobile-area district.Source: Lowdown
- Why did Alabama create a second Black congressional district in the first place?
- A federal court ordered Alabama to draw a second majority-Black district following the US Supreme Court's Allen v. Milligan ruling, which found the state's previous maps violated the Voting Rights Act. That order was the basis for Shomari Figures's 2024 election.
- Is Shomari Figures the only Black congressman from Alabama?
- Yes. Figures was only the second Black congressman Alabama has sent to Washington in the modern era. The post-Callais map that eliminates his seat would return Alabama to an all-white congressional delegation.Source: Lowdown
Background
Shomari Figures is the Democratic congressman for Alabama's 2nd District, centred on Mobile, and only the second Black congressman Alabama has sent to Washington in the modern era. He was first elected in 2024, winning a seat that was created by a federal court order requiring Alabama to draw a second majority-Black district after the Supreme Court's Allen v. Milligan ruling. The post-Callais redistricting has now eliminated that seat: the new map reverts to a configuration where no majority-Black district exists in the state, and the results of the four primaries held on 19 May 2026 under the old map will be declared void.
Figures previously served as a state legislator and as a Biden White House aide. His 2024 victory was widely seen as the delayed fulfilment of the court order Alabama had resisted for years. The re-do special primary scheduled by Governor Kay Ivey for 11 August 2026 will be contested under a map that makes Figures's re-election mathematically very difficult.
The elimination of Figures's seat illustrates a broader pattern: post-Callais, states are using the new precedential landscape to reverse court-ordered majority-minority districts that were themselves the product of years of voting-rights litigation. Whether the Voting Rights Act can restore the Mobile district is now an open question the courts may revisit after 2026.