Who's In the Race

Rep. Shomari Figures (D-AL) faces Republican Rhett Marques in the November 3 general election in Alabama's 2nd District. ​

Figures is a lawyer who previously worked in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, at the Justice Department, and for Senator Sherrod Brown, and he has represented Alabama's 2nd District in Congress since 2025. The scheduled May Democratic primary was canceled, and Figures advanced without appearing on the ballot.

Marques has served in the Alabama House of Representatives since 2018, representing District 91, and has owned and operated a tire and automotive-service business in Enterprise for more than 26 years. He won the Republican special primary on July 14, 2026, with about 50 percent of the vote, more than double runner-up Hampton Harris's 21.7 percent.

Alabama's 2026 elections use the 2023 congressional map, after the Supreme Court allowed it to be used following a dispute over the map used for the 2024 election. The district held special primaries on August 11 after the scheduled May primaries were voided.

What They Stand For

Figures has proposed expanding health-care networks and community health centers while working to protect reproductive rights, according to his campaign website. He has also supported:

  • Raising wages, protecting collective-bargaining rights, and expanding workforce development,
  • Paid parental leave and affordable, high-quality childcare,
  • Raising teacher pay, modernizing schools, and increasing access to school mental-health professionals; and
  • Expanding broadband and internet service across rural Alabama.

Marques has proposed eliminating what he calls wasteful spending and lowering taxes to put more money back in families' pockets, according to his campaign website. He has also supported:

  • Reducing regulations, bringing supply chains back to the United States, and seeking higher wages,
  • Replacing "Catch and Release" with "Detain and Deport" and securing the border,
  • Stronger support for veterans and maintaining military readiness; and
  • An "unapologetically pro-life" position opposing taxpayer funding for abortion, and support for Second Amendment rights.

Race Outlook: Ratings and Betting Markets

Cook Political Report rated the race "Likely Republican" as of Oct. 9; Sabato's Crystal Ball rated it "Lean Republican" as of Oct. 11; and Inside Elections rated it "Likely Republican" as of Oct. 2. On Kalshi, traders gave Republicans, whose nominee is Marques, a 72 percent chance of winning as of Oct. 15, while Democrats, whose nominee is Figures, stood at 28 percent.

The district swung sharply in 2024: Republican Barry Moore carried it with about 69 percent in 2022, but Figures won it with about 55 percent in 2024, a shift of about 14.5 percentage points. Republicans won six of Alabama's seven U.S. House seats in 2022 and five of seven in 2024. Donald Trump carried Alabama in the 2024 presidential election with about 65 percent of the vote.

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