BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Voters in parts of Alabama return to the polls Tuesday for special congressional primaries reshaped by the state’s long-running redistricting litigation, including contests affecting Jefferson County voters in the Birmingham area.
The election is being held in Alabama’s 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Congressional Districts after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the state to use a Republican-drawn 2023 congressional map for this year’s elections. The decision displaced the court-ordered map used in 2024, when Alabama elected two Black members of Congress at the same time for the first time.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Registered voters who live within the four affected districts may choose either the Democratic or Republican primary ballot because Alabama has open primaries. Voters must show an acceptable form of photo identification. There will be no runoff: the highest vote-getter in each primary becomes the party’s nominee for the Nov. 3 general election, even without a majority.
The special primary effectively replaces the May 19 congressional primary results in the four affected districts. Alabama’s current House members continue representing the districts elected under the previous lines through the end of the year; candidates elected in November will represent the redrawn districts beginning in January.
For Birmingham-area voters, the key races are in the 6th and 7th districts. Jefferson County remains divided between the two districts, though its boundaries changed under the reinstated 2023 map. Voters should verify their congressional district and polling site through the Alabama Secretary of State’s voter-information system before going to the polls.
In the 6th District, which includes southern Birmingham suburbs and central Alabama, incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer of Hoover faces Case Dixon in the Republican primary. Democrats Jacob Bouma-Sims, Ashtyn Kennedy, Maurice Mercer and Keith Pilkington are competing for their party’s nomination. The district includes all or portions of Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Coosa, Elmore, Jefferson, Shelby and Talladega counties.
In the 7th District, Democratic U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell of Birmingham is unopposed for her party’s nomination. Republicans Ammie Akin and David Perry are seeking the chance to face Sewell in November. The new district includes parts of Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties as well as much of west and central Alabama.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures is also unopposed in the 2nd District. Six Republicans — Christian Horn, David Matthews, Hampton Harris, James Richardson, Joshua McKee and state Rep. Rhett Marques — are running for the right to challenge him in November.
The 1st District is an open-seat contest because Republican U.S. Rep. Barry Moore is running for the U.S. Senate. Republicans Jerry Carl, John Mills, Austin Sidwell and Lucas Burger are seeking the nomination. Democrat Clyde Jones is unopposed.
The new map’s political consequences are clearest in the 2nd District, where Figures won election in 2024 under a court-ordered map designed to give Black voters a realistic opportunity to elect their preferred candidate. Under the restored 2023 plan, the district’s Black population falls from about one-half to about 40%, and its recent presidential voting history changes from Democratic-leaning to Republican-leaning.
That shift is central to the legal and political dispute behind Tuesday’s vote. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling that Alabama’s earlier congressional map likely violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting Black voting strength and required a second district where Black voters would have an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice. The court-ordered 2024 map produced two such districts: the 2nd and 7th.
A three-judge federal panel later found that the Legislature’s 2023 replacement map intentionally discriminated against Black voters, a finding Alabama officials disputed. The Supreme Court’s June order put that ruling on hold while the case continues, allowing the state to use the 2023 map for the 2026 elections. The map has one majority-Black district, the 7th, rather than two Black-opportunity districts.
The result is a primary election that will help determine whether Alabama’s congressional delegation remains politically divided or shifts toward a 6-1 Republican advantage next year.