The U.S. Supreme Court handed Alabama a sweeping victory Monday afternoon in the long-running fight over the state’s congressional map, vacating the lower-court injunctions in Allen v. Milligan, Allen v. Caster, and Allen v. Singleton.
Justices sent all three cases back to the federal district court that, in 2023, ultimately drew the state a district all but guaranteed to elect a Democrat.
The court-imposed map that carved out a second nearly-majority-Black district — what became Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, now held by U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Mobile) — is no longer the law of the land.
The maps drawn by the Alabama Legislature in 2021 and 2023, now reauthorized for use during the current election cycle by lawmakers in last week’s special session, are on firmer legal footing and more likely to be in effect for the November 2026 general election than the district lines that bound voters in 2024.
Alabama’s federal redistricting arc as reported by Yellowhammer News:
- 2021: Reapportionment done. Legislative races begin.
- 2023: U.S. Supreme Court rejects Alabama Legislature’s maps
- 2023: Federal judges issue final map to Alabama
- 2025: Lawmakers propose special primaries if Louisiana overturned
- 2026: Alabama gets new shot at full-GOP-sweep congressional map
- 2026: Alabama lawmakers pass contingency plan
The May 19 primary will proceed as scheduled under existing maps — but a special primary for the impacted districts will likely be called by Governor Ivey, authority lawmakers also gave her last week during the special session.
In 2026, Alabama could very well send a full-GOP-sweep to Congress for the first time in state history.
This story will be updated with additional reactions from state officials.
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. Sawyer Knowles contributed to this report.
