U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeen Jeffries will make a campaign stop in Alabama on Thursday to stump for Democratic congressional hopeful Shomari Figures.
The Jeffries visit, planned for Oct. 31, will take place at a yet-to-be-announced venue in Montgomery. According to the Figures campaign, the Jeffries visit will take place sometime in the afternoon.
“I think it’s a sign of what this seat might mean,” Figures said Sunday following a campaign event at a Montgomery church featuring Democratic U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas and U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell of Birmingham. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to join Figures for a get-out-the-vote initiative Monday in Mobile.
“It’s the exposure we have not gotten for the Democratic side here in the State of Alabama for far too long,” Figures said. “We can use it to rejuvenate the party, renew excitement and get us to a place where hopefully we can compete for seats across the state.”
Democratic congressional hopeful Shomari Figures speaks during a campaign event on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, at Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala.John Sharp
Jeffries appearance comes amid a tight contest for control of the U.S. House in January. Republicans hold a narrow eight-seat majority, and some prognosticators believe the majority of the chamber could boil down to a single seat.
Figures is looking to flip the 2nd congressional district, which is currently occupied by Republican U.S. Rep. Barry Moore of Enterprise.
Moore, who lives in the 1st district, decided to run in the GOP primary earlier this year against incumbent Republican U.S. Jerry Carl of Mobile, and won. Moore is expected to win the very conservative 1st district on Nov. 5.
Figures is an attorney and a former White House official from an influential Mobile family. He faces Caroleene Dobson, also an attorney, who practiced in Texas and comes from a Monroe County farming family.
The contest is considered the most competitive race for a congressional seat in Alabama since 2010, when Republican Martha Roby defeated Democratic U.S. Rep. Bobby Bright.
The dynamics are much different than they were 14 years ago. Figures and Dobson are facing off in a congressional district redrawn by federal judges to give Black voters an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choosing.
The new district lines occurred after the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision in Allen v. Milligan, agreed with a lower court’s determination that Alabama should have at least another congressional district where Black residents formed a majority, or close majority, of voters.
The state’s lone Black member of Congress is U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell of Birmingham, who represents the 7th district.
About 27% of Alabama residents are Black, according to census data reported last year.
