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Democrat Shomari Figures is projected to win a House seat in Alabama's newly redrawn 2nd Congressional District, per NBC News.
On Tuesday (November 5), Figures was projected to win the House race, garnering 54.8 percent of the vote to Republican challenger Caroleene Dobson's 45.1 percent.
Figures' win marks an important pickup in the House in a red state that former President Donald Trump won by a wide margin in 2020. Alabama will also boast two Black members of Congress for the first time in history.
Alabama's 2nd District was thrust into a legal battle that resulted in a federal court ruling that the state had illegally gerrymandered the district to weaken Black voting power. The state was required to redraw its congressional map, paving the way for Democrats to flip a seat that has been reliably Republican.
Figures grew up in Mobile, which is partially included in the district.
“We feel like a lot of people want us to be a voice that’s going to go to Washington to actually, prioritize trying to fix some of the issues in their communities and trying to get funding to help address some of the issues in their communities,” Figures told NBC News prior to the election.
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