The partisan complexion of Alabama’s Congressional delegation has changed from six Republicans and one lone Democrat to five Republicans and two Democrats.

This change was orchestrated by federal court decree. The federal courts plowed new ground when they ruled that Alabama’s Legislature did not have the right to draw their own congressional lines.

The U.S. Supreme Court has adamantly decreed, for the entire duration of U.S. history, that the state legislatures have the omnipotent political power to draw their own state congressional districts. In opinion after opinion, SCOTUS has acknowledged that this is an inherently political process and that you cannot take the politics out of redistricting. It is a political process and “to the victor goes the spoils.”

What that means is that if the Democratic Party is in the majority in New York state, the Democrats in the New York legislature get to control the pencil that draws their state congressional lines, and they can draw the congressional districts in their state to favor Democrats. That is the way it is all over the country.

In Alabama, a Republican–appointed federal judge ruled that Alabama’s super majority, Republican legislature does not have the same political right to draw their lines for partisan reasons.The Northern District of Alabama federal judge’s reason was that Alabama does not have the same rights as other states because of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. That Act carved out a handful of southern states and placed us under the scrutiny of the U.S. Justice Department when any voting procedures are involved, because of past racial discrimination. Therefore, Alabama Republicans of today do not have the same constitutional precedence rights to political redistricting as Democrats in New York do today, because of the sins of Alabama Democrats of bygone days.

The die may not be cast totally on this ruling. The Alabama Republicans may make another run at overturning this new precedent. They will hang their hat on a North Carolina case where SCOTUS ruled that North Carolina could draw their districts politically. That case is not exactly on point. However, there is a new Trump Justice Department and that may shed a new light on it.

The courts drew the new Second Congressional District in South Alabama as a seat that should vote 60% for a Democrat. They overtly ruled that this district is drawn to be a Democratic seat. The race for this gerrymandered seat was the only good, contested race on the Alabama ballot last year. It featured two stellar youthful candidates, Democrat Shomari Figures and Republican Caroleene Dobson. She made it a close race. Figures, the Democrat, won with 55% of the vote. He will represent this new district for at least two years.

Our five incumbent Republican Congressmen, Robert Aderholt, Mike Rogers, Gary Palmer, Dale Strong, and Barry Moore, were all overwhelmingly re-elected in 2024 with no or token opposition, as was Democrat Terri Sewell. Figures joined Sewell in the House Democratic Caucus.

The real loser in this new Second District are the white Republican voters and business community in Mobile. They have no pro-business resident Republican Congressman for the first time in at least six decades. These Mobile/Baldwin business and civic leaders are distraught and up in arms. The old First District of Alabama has been a mainstay for the economic growth and prosperity of the Gulf Coast Mobile/Baldwin metropolitan area. The region has had a mainstream effective Republican resident congressman since 1964, beginning with Jack Edwards and continuing with Sonny Callahan, Jo Bonner, Bradley Byrne, and then, Jerry Carl.

This gerrymandered new Second District merges the Mobile/Baldwin Republicans with the Wiregrass Republicans. Therefore, one of the regions was due to get the short end of the stick. The two regions have completely different economic needs from Washington. You actually have to drive through Florida to get from Dothan to Mobile. The Wiregrass Congressman Barry Moore bested the Mobile Congressman Jerry Carl in the GOP Primary. Jerry Carl summed it up well,recently, “It’s just about impossible for anyone in District One to do the District justice. You can’t serve two masters…Dothan is so much different than Mobile and vice versa.” We will see.

See you next week.