Dem candidate for second majority-Black Alabama district raises $250,000 in nine weeks
Shomari Figures says the haul plus his legislative- and executive-branch experience will provide his campaign with the resources and message to win the newly drawn seat.
Shomari Figures, a former aide to former President Barack Obama and Justice Department official raised $250,000 in the first nine weeks of his campaign to become Alabama’s second Black member of Congress.
It’s an impressive haul for a candidate who’s relatively unknown on the national stage in a state without much of a Democratic money machine. The early money will help him compete in a crowded field with at least 10 other candidates vying the seat.
“We’re immensely grateful for the early support we’ve earned and we’re just getting started,” Figures said in a statement. “We will have the resources to reach every voter, win this campaign, and get to work delivering for Alabama’s Second District so that all Alabamians are moving forward together.”
In a poll conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund and the New Southern Majority, Figures ranked second in the race for the Democratic primary behind State Rep. Napoleon Bracy, Jr., who led with 15 percent of the vote to Figures’ nine percent. 47 percent of voters said they were undecided. The primary election is March 5.
Figures is running on his extensive experience in the Obama and Biden administration, which he says taught him how government works, how to work across party lines and fight for underserved and overlooked communities.
After working on Obama’s campaign, Figures went on to serve as the former president’s Domestic Director of Presidential Personnel where he was responsible for building the teams at the agencies that implemented Obama’s policies. He also served as the White House Liaison at the Justice Department and Counsel to Sen. Sherrod Brown, advising the Ohio Democrat on issues including civil rights, immigration, homeland security, child welfare and policing. Figures left Congress work on the Biden-Harris transition before returning to Main Justice as Attorney General Merrick Garland’s deputy chief of staff and counselor.
On the issues, Figures lists expanding access to the Affordable Care Act and addressing Alabama’s maternal health crisis as a top priority if elected. He also supports increasing teacher pay, modernizing schools, closing the achievement gap exacerbated by years of learning loss after the pandemic and increasing access to mental health professionals in public schools.
Figures’ jobs agenda is all about expanding economic opportunities for historically overlooked and underserved communities: He supports expanded child care and parental leave, investments in the high-tech manufacturing industry and artificial intelligence, and tax breaks for small businesses.
His approach to gun violence prevention would center on youth intervention and community policing. Voting rights would also feature as key focus of his legislative portfolio—no surprise since the seat he’s running in is a result of sustained voter engagement and Alabama’s pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement.
Figures is following in the footsteps of his father Michael, who was a state senator and lawyer who fought for over two decades to expand voting rights for Black prior in Mobile, Alabama and across the Black Belt. Following Michael’s death, Figures’ mom Vivian was elected to fill the state senate seat, which she still holds today to promote women’s rights and equity in health care and education.
The Supreme Court in a surprise 5-4 decision last June upheld a lower court’s ruling to strike down an Alabama congressional map because it violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by discriminating against Black voters. The Alabama legislature approved another map that also violated the law, but a federal court selected a new map on appeal.
The decision paved the way for Alabama to add an additional majority-Black district for most of Montgomery County and empowered plaintiffs in the over 30 redistricting lawsuits across 10 different states to continue challenging racist maps under Section 2. (Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell is the only other Black member of Alabama’s seven-person congressional delegation.) Once it’s all said and done, these challenges could net Democrats the seats they need to flip the House from the current Republican majority in November.
“Terri Sewell needs a real partner in Washington, someone who can work hand-in-glove with her on delivering for the people of Alabama. I’m talking expanded health care, resources to improve schools, higher wages and safer communities,” Michael Hardaway, a political strategist who also worked in the Obama administration and as a senior congressional aide, told me in a brief interview. “Shomari Figures is the only person in this race who knows how to get things done in DC and he’s the only person who has the relationships and experience to improve the lives of voters in the second congressional district.”
Once Upon a Hill is home to thoughtful, accessible and singular coverage of congressional politics. Browse the OUAH archive for more posts and subscribe to the newsletter to get OUAH's in-depth and independent journalism sent straight to your inbox.