Alabama Republicans thought they had drawn a safe House seat. A Black congressman had other ideas.

U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures is fighting to keep his seat in Congress after Alabama's Republican leaders redrew the borders of his district. The new borders were drawn to make it harder for Figures, who is Black, to win. He is running against Rhett Marques, a Republican backed by former President Trump. Nearly $10 million has been spent on TV ads in the race in just seven weeks.

The redrawing of voting district lines to help one party win is called gerrymandering. This year, the U.S. Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act, a law that protected Black Americans' right to vote. After that ruling, Alabama's state legislature redrew Figures' district. The new map lowered the share of Black voting-age residents from 48% to 40%, making it more likely a Republican would win.

Figures was first elected in 2024 after a federal court ordered Alabama to draw fairer district lines. The court said the old map unfairly reduced the power of Black voters. When Figures won, Alabama had two Black members of Congress for the first time in its history. That better matched the state's population, since about 27% of Alabamans are Black.

Many Black voters say the new district map feels like history repeating itself. Francis Fanning, a 75-year-old retired teacher in Montgomery, said exactly that. Sheyann Webb-Christburg marched for voting rights in Selma in 1965 when she was just 8 years old and was attacked by police. She said it is 'very sad' that voting rights are threatened again, but added: 'We always keep hope alive.'

Figures has been campaigning in both Democratic and Republican areas of the district. He says the top issue for most voters is the rising cost of food, gas, and other basics. 'The cost of living in this country is getting out of control,' he said. He notes that the average individual income in Alabama is about $34,000, and many people struggle to afford healthcare.

Marques says the new district lines simply restore a seat Republicans held before the federal court changed the map. He grew up in the area, ran an auto parts store, and served on the Enterprise City Council. 'We have an opportunity to not only flip a seat from Democrat back to Republican, but to also hold the majority in the House,' he said. He blames the Biden administration for high prices.

National Republican leaders say this Alabama race is one of about three dozen seats that will decide who controls Congress. U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise campaigned for Marques and called the seat a key battleground. Republicans are hopeful but worried that too few of their voters will show up, since Figures is running a very active campaign. Marques said he expects to win 'if the Republicans and the people who believe in freedom' go vote.

On a busy October weekend, Figures visited the Boll Weevil Fall Festival in Enterprise, a mostly white city of about 31,000. The festival is named for an insect that once destroyed cotton crops, pushing the town to grow peanuts instead. The next day, he spoke at Black churches in Dothan, urging people to vote. His schedule showed how hard he is working to reach all kinds of voters.

At a Black church in heavily Republican Houston County, Figures told the congregation that the district had been redrawn to make it harder for 'somebody who looks like me' to win. But he said that does not mean victory is impossible. 'Even though they are changing district lines, we still have the right to show up and make our voices heard,' he said. Democrats hope that anger over redistricting and the economy will carry Figures back to Congress.