Democratic and Republican primary runoffs in Congressional District 2 are today

Republican and Democratic voters in Alabama's recently redrawn Congressional District Two go to the polls today to select their choice to represent them in the United States House of Representatives.

Polls open today at 7:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m. There is no same day voting registration in Alabama so you must already be a registered voter to participate. There is also no electronic voting in Alabama so you must actually go to the polls to vote and you must vote only at the polling place to which you have been assigned. Alabama requires that you have a valid photo ID in order to participate in any election so remember to take your ID with you to the polls.

There is no incumbent in this race after Congressman Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) was redistricted by the federal court into Congressional District One with Congressman Jerry Carl (R-Mobile). Moore defeated Carl in the Republican primary on March 2 so will represent Alabama's First Congressional District next year if he defeats his Democratic opponent,

In the Democratic primary, Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville) is running against former Assistant Attorney General Shomari Figures.

Daniels is the first Black to ever be elected House Minority Leader in the history of Alabama. He is a native of Bullock County in the Black Belt where his grandparents were sharecroppers. He has passed a number of pieces of legislation in his tenure in the Alabama House of Representatives, including historic tax cuts so that workers do not have to pay state income tax on their overtime pay. He is a graduate of Alabama A&M University, a former teacher, who works at the Space and Rocket Center.

Figures served as Assistant Attorney General for President Joseph R. Biden (D) until resigning his post to run for Congress when CD2 became an open seat. He is a native of Mobile and is the son of the late State Senator Michael Figures and Sen. Vivian Figures. He has worked as a law clerk, in the Obama Whitehouse, for the Obama Department of Justice, for Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and for both the Obama and Biden campaigns. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama School of Law.

In the Republican primary runoff, real estate attorney Caroleene Dobson is running against former State Senator Dick Brewbaker.

Dobson is a real estate attorney in Montgomery. Her family farm where her family has lived for generations is in Monroe County. She is the daughter and granddaughter of farmers and ranchers. Dobson practices real estate law. She serves on the Alabama Forestry Commission and on the board of the Southeastern Livestock Exposition. She excelled in high school rodeo and was a National Merit Scholar. She has a degree from Harvard University and the Baylor School of Law.

Dick Brewbaker is a native of Montgomery where he owned a number of automobile dealerships. He served for two terms in the Alabama Senate and one term in the Alabama House of Representatives. His family were automobile dealers for generations. He worked as a teacher for a time after college. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University.

Alabama does not have party registration so anyone can vote in whichever primary they want to vote. Crossover voting, however, is illegal in Alabama. If you voted in the March Republican primary, you may not vote in the Democratic primary runoff. Similarly, if you voted in the Democratic primary in March, you may not vote in the Republican primary runoff. If you did not participate in March, you can vote in either runoff.

The eventual Republican and Democratic nominees will face each other in the November 5 general election.

CD2 is drawn in such a way that it has almost an equal number of Whites and Blacks. In Alabama, Blacks in Alabama typically vote for Democratic candidates 90 to 95 percent of the time and White Alabamians typically vote Republican 82 to 86 percent of the time making Alabama general elections oddly predictable in recent times based purely on demographics. CD2 is presently in Republican hands and both parties intend to compete for this seat in the fall.

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