Ammie Akin wins Republican primary in Alabama district redrawn after Supreme Court ruling

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Ammie Akin has won the Republican primary in Alabama’s 7th Congressional District.

She will face incumbent Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell in November. Sewell has represented the district since 2011.

Akin served as assistant superintendent in a public school system, was interim superintendent of a private Christian school and founded a nonprofit.

Alabama was holding special primaries in four congressional districts after redrawing lines in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s redistricting decision. Alabama Republicans reshaped the 2nd Congressional District to make it more likely to elect a Republican. The new map altered the lines of three other districts, including Sewell’s.

While the lines of the district were altered slightly, Sewell remains the favorite to win in November.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures will face a Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump in his fight for reelection to an Alabama congressional seat the GOP redrew as part of a larger effort to help the party keep control of the U.S. House.

He will be running against state Rep. Rhett Marques, who won the GOP nomination for the 2nd Congressional District in Tuesday’s special primary election. Figures was unopposed.

The district is one of several Democratic-leaning districts across the South that were reshaped to Republican advantage in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that severely weakened the Voting Rights Act. Democrat Terri Sewell, Alabama’s other Black representative, was unopposed in her primary and is expected to keep her slightly redrawn 7th Congressional District seat in the fall.

Figures, who was elected in 2024, maintains that his new district is winnable for him.

“The choice in this race is simple; I have worked for the people of Alabama because that is who we should be working for,” Figures said in a statement Tuesday evening. “My opponent would be just another rubber stamp on the same policies that are making life more expensive for the people right here in Alabama.”

Marques, the owner of a tire and automotive service who has served in the Alabama Legislature since 2018, and also got the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Katie Britt.

“The stakes in November could not be higher,” he said after winning the Republican nomination.

Both parties have made the district a priority for the fall.

Figures made history two years ago

Figures won the seat in 2024 after years of litigation under the Voting Rights Act. A federal court redrew the reliably red district after ruling that the GOP-controlled Legislature intentionally diluted the voting power of Black residents, who make up 27% of Alabama’s population.

The court said there should be a second Alabama district where Black people are a majority or near-majority. Figures’ election gave the state, for the first time in its history, two Black representatives. They’re the only Democrats in Alabama’s seven-member congressional delegation.

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a majority-Black district in Louisiana as an unconstitutional gerrymander that relied too heavily on race. Alabama Republicans, like those in other Southern states, seized on the decision.

Seeking to implement a map previously drawn by the Legislature, lawmakers approved legislation to nullify the results of ongoing primaries and instead authorize Tuesday’s special primary elections. The Supreme Court in June granted Alabama permission to switch maps.

Figures’ new district is in the state’s southeastern corner and includes the capital, Montgomery, and Tuskegee, both Democratic strongholds steeped in civil rights history. It sweeps through rural areas known for peanut and soybean farming. There is a heavy military presence, with an Air Force base in Montgomery and an Army base in Dale County.

But the Republican redraw dropped its Black voting age population dropped from 48% to 40%, making it more challenging for Democrats.

Republicans are trying to reclaim a seat that had been reliably red

During a recent forum, the GOP candidates answered questions about the Iran war, data centers and the district’s needs. But much of the attention was on Figures and the general election.

“Shomari is going to have the money. He is going to have the opportunity to keep this district. If we get out to vote, we can win it, and we can take this seat back for the Republicans,” Marques said.

He survived a six-way GOP primary and on Tuesday reached out to voters who supported his opponents. He said his fall campaign would focus on promoting safe streets and Christian values, and putting “more money in your pockets.”

“With your help, common sense will conquer craziness in November,” Marques said in a statement.

The National Republican Congressional Committee said it was supporting Marques and would focus on his support for Trump’s agenda in a state the president has won by wide margins three times.

Primary result sets up a tough fight that Figures will try to win

Speaking recently at a community gathering at the Beulah Baptist Church, located not far from the path of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march, Figures said Republicans won’t succeed in making the district “unwinnable” for him.

“That’s in large part because I’ve had the privilege to represent over half of this new district already. We’ve shown up in the communities. We’ve shown them how we can deliver results,” he said.

On Tuesday night, he cited his record of bringing money to the district for hospitals, law enforcement, housing and water and transportation projects.

Some Black Alabamians see echoes of the past in the redistricting process, considering the Republican gerrymandering as a way to silence their political voice.

Maggie Walker, an 80-year-old retired educator from Montgomery, said she interpreted the Supreme Court’s redistricting decision as an effort to install “as many Republicans as possible” in the House. But she is optimistic Figures can win.

“I think he represents us and the things that are important to our state,” Walker said.

“We’re going backward with everything,” said Isaiah Sankey, vice chairman of the Montgomery County Commission. “But it’s OK — we are used to the struggle. It’s move forward, you get pushed back.”