Caroleene Dobson won the Republican nomination Tuesday for Alabama’s newly redrawn 2nd Congressional District.
As of 10:26 p.m. Tuesday, Figures, an attorney, had 21,926 votes (61%) while House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, had 13,990 votes (39%) in unofficial returns.
Shomari Figures, a former top aide to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, defeated state House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels to win the Democratic nomination. Attorney and political newcomer Caroleene Dobson defeated former state Sen. Dick Brewbaker to win the Republican nomination. Dobson and Figures will face off in November in the closely watched general election.
Democrats are aiming to flip the seat after the district was redrawn by a federal court to boost the voting power of resident. If Figures is elected, it will be the first time in history that Alabama, which is about 27% Black, has two Black members in its congressional delegation.
Dobson is a self-proclaimed “lifelong advocate for conservative values” and attorney, graduating from Baylor Law. She currently practices real estate law at the Maynard Nexsen law firm.
Both candidates heavily supported border security at the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent people from entering without legal permission. Both also prioritized repairing the economy, saying President Joe Biden is to blame for current issues. Dobson said she supports the reinstatement of former president Donald Trump’s regulatory Bill of Rights, and Brewbaker said he plans to decrease spending and shrink the federal government.
The new district is likely democratic, but Republican candidates have maintained the district is competitive with the right messaging. Under the new congressional lines, President Joe Biden would have won the district in 2020 by 12 points, according to the Cook Political Report.
Republicans Brewbaker and Dobson also had few major policy disagreements and focused on the economy and social values, as well as issues like international relations, border security, agriculture, and energy independence.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the state’s previous congressional lines discriminated against Black voters and carved out a new district that’s expected to lean Democratic. While the state legislature initially refused to do so, a new map was drawn, creating a new competitive congressional district.