Alabama held a rare second 2026 primary Tuesday after federal courts ordered new congressional maps in May, pushing several district primaries from spring to August and creating genuine confusion among voters and candidates alike. Rep. Shomari Figures — first elected in 2024 after Black voters successfully sued to force a map redraw under the Voting Rights Act — now finds his own district redrawn again, with his hometown of Mobile removed and the district’s Black voting-age population reduced from approximately 47% to roughly 40%. Figures pushed back publicly on characterizations that Alabama had ‘lost a majority Black seat,’ while acknowledging the district was never technically majority-Black to begin with.
2-MINUTE CONTEXT — THE FULL MAP HISTORY
The Alabama congressional map story is one of the most legally significant redistricting battles of the current decade. The sequence:
▸ 2021: Alabama drew congressional maps after the 2020 Census. Civil rights organizations challenged them as violating the Voting Rights Act by diluting Black voting power.
▸ 2023: The Supreme Court ruled in Allen v. Milligan that Alabama’s maps likely violated the VRA and ordered the state to create a second majority-Black district.
▸ 2023-2024: Alabama resisted compliance; federal courts found the state in violation and drew remedial maps. Rep. Shomari Figures was elected in 2024 in the newly drawn district.
▸ May 2026: Federal courts ordered yet another map revision, requiring several districts’ primaries to be moved from spring to August — creating today’s unusual second primary.
▸ August 2026: Figures now runs in a redrawn district that has lost Mobile and seen its Black voting-age population fall from ~47% to ~40%.
WHAT THE LATEST MAPS CHANGED FOR FIGURES
| ORIGINAL (2024 DISTRICT) | REVISED (2026 DISTRICT) |
| Included Mobile — Figures’ hometown | Mobile removed from district |
| Black voting-age population: ~47% | Black voting-age population: ~40% |
| Won 2024 election in this configuration | Running August 2026 in newly configured district |
| Emerged from successful VRA lawsuit | New map is result of subsequent federal court order |
| First Black congressman from this region in decades | Must now rebuild political relationships without Mobile base |
FIGURES’S FRAMING — AND THE UNDERLYING FACT
Rep. Figures pushed back on claims that Alabama ‘lost a majority Black seat,’ saying ‘there’s been a lot of efforts by some to paint this district as a lost cause.’ His specific counter: the district was never technically majority-Black to begin with — at 47% Black voting-age population, it was a plurality-Black district in which Black voters were the largest single group but not a majority.
The distinction matters politically and legally. A ‘majority-Black district’ has a specific meaning in VRA jurisprudence: a district where Black voters constitute more than 50% of the voting-age population. Figures’s 2024 district was a high-plurality-Black district. Its new configuration at 40% is a lower-plurality-Black district. Whether 40% provides the same degree of electoral influence as 47% — and whether the reduction violates the VRA — are questions that will be litigated.
THE VOTER CONFUSION DIMENSION
A second primary in August, following a spring primary that already occurred, creates genuine logistical and civic confusion. Voters must track which district they are now in, whether their representative changed, and when to vote again. Organizations doing voter outreach must redirect resources to a second primary cycle. Candidates must run again with new district configurations and — in some cases — new constituent bases.
The administrative and civic cost of court-ordered map revisions is borne by the voters and the candidates, not by the state officials whose original maps created the need for court intervention. This is a specific structural injustice of redistricting remediation that the legal process does not fully address.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Alabama’s second 2026 primary is a specific, concrete demonstration of how redistricting litigation plays out in practice for real voters and real representatives. Rep. Figures was elected as a consequence of successful VRA litigation; he is now campaigning in a changed district as a consequence of subsequent litigation. The VRA enforcement mechanism is producing representation for Black voters who previously lacked it — and is simultaneously producing ongoing instability in district configuration as courts continue to evaluate compliance.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
▸ Figures’s August primary results — does he win in the redrawn district, or does the loss of Mobile create a different political dynamic?
▸ Further VRA litigation over the new maps is virtually certain — civil rights organizations will assess whether the 40% Black voting-age population configuration satisfies the court’s prior remediation orders
▸ National implications: Alabama’s map saga is being watched by redistricting advocates and opponents across all states with pending VRA challenges
| CONFIDENCE: HIGH | Federal court-ordered map history is from documented court proceedings. Figures’s election in 2024 is documented. Mobile removal and population percentage changes (47% to 40%) are from documented redistricting reporting. Figures’s quotes are on the record. |
| ⚖️ BIAS CHECK — WHO IS SAYING WHAT | |
| Rep. Figures | Resisting the lost-cause narrative; emphasizing that the district always required coalition building, not just Black majority turnout |
| Civil Rights Litigants | Evaluating whether the new map satisfies the Allen v. Milligan mandate; likely to challenge the 40% configuration |
| Alabama State Legislature | Has repeatedly drawn maps that federal courts found in violation; the multiple court interventions document a pattern of non-compliance |
| Federal Courts | Continuing active oversight of Alabama redistricting; multiple interventions over multiple years |
| Republican Congressional Leadership | Watching the Alabama map saga for implications in other states with pending redistricting challenges |
SOURCES
▸ Federal court orders — Alabama congressional maps, May 2026
▸ Rep. Figures — “lot of efforts by some” quote, primary campaign statement
▸ Alabama redistricting history — Allen v. Milligan (Supreme Court 2023), documented court interventions
▸ Black voting-age population changes (47% to 40%) — from redistricting reporting
Q: What is a majority-Black district legally?
A: A district where Black voters constitute more than 50% of the voting-age population. The Voting Rights Act requires states with documented histories of voting discrimination to create districts that give Black voters a meaningful opportunity to elect their preferred candidates — which in practice often means majority-Black or high-plurality-Black configurations.
Q: Why can’t Alabama just keep the maps that elected Figures?
A: Federal courts found that the maps used in 2024 were themselves the result of a remediation order, but that subsequent analysis indicated further adjustment was required. This is the ongoing legal process — maps are challenged, courts order revisions, revisions are challenged, courts order further revisions. It is not a stable endpoint.
Q: Is a 40% Black voting-age population enough to elect a Black representative?
A: It depends on the specific district, the political environment, the candidates, and turnout patterns. 40% is a significant share that, combined with a portion of white and other voters, can produce a majority coalition. Rep. Figures’ argument is that his election has always required coalition-building, not a majority-Black district.
