Republican Rhett Marques won Alabama’s newly drawn 2nd Congressional District primary on Aug. 11, securing the GOP nomination for the 2026 midterm election. Marques, backed by former President Donald Trump and Sen. Katie Britt (R-Alabama), clinched approximately 50% of the vote in a six-candidate field, according to projections from the Associated Press.
In the same election, incumbent Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures advanced to the general election after Alabama’s Supreme Court redrew congressional district lines, altering the political landscape ahead of November. The new map, which the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Alabama to implement this year, removed Mobile from District 2, shifting the district’s partisan lean in favor of Republicans.
Key outcomes from Aug. 11 primaries
- District 2: Rhett Marques (R) won the Republican primary with roughly 50% of the vote, defeating Hampton Harris (20%) and David Matthews (18%).
- District 6: Gary Palmer (R) secured 86.6% of the vote, defeating Case Dixon (13.4%) in the Republican primary. On the Democratic side, Maurice Mercer won the primary with 6% of the vote, though the results were incomplete at the time of reporting.
Redistricting reshapes Alabama’s congressional races
The Aug. 11 elections followed a Supreme Court decision that allowed Alabama to revert to a congressional map favoring Republicans, reversing a 2024 ruling that had required the state to create a second majority-Black district. Under the new boundaries, District 2 no longer includes Mobile, a Democratic-leaning area, making it more competitive for Republicans in November.
District 2’s political shift
Figures, who won the seat in 2024 after the Supreme Court initially upheld a map discriminating against Black voters, now faces a tougher path to reelection. The University of Virginia’s Center for Politics rates the race as likely Republican in the upcoming general election. Marques, who previously ran unsuccessfully in District 1, switched to District 2 after the redistricting decision voided earlier primary results.
Democratic responses and strategic moves
Some Democratic strategists, including former Alabama Democratic Party vice chair Tabitha Isner, urged voters to support a candidate other than Marques in the open primary system. Figures remains the Democratic nominee, but the altered district boundaries have intensified Republican efforts to flip the seat.
What’s next
All winners from the Aug. 11 primaries will advance to the general election on Nov. 4, 2025, with no runoff elections scheduled. The races in Districts 1, 2, 6, and 7 were impacted by the Supreme Court’s decision, which also allowed candidates who previously lost in other districts to rerun in newly configured races.