Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed says Alabama Democrats are not organized enough to protect U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures’ seat in the newly redrawn 2nd Congressional District, which Reed described as having been “stolen” from the party.
Speaking during a C-SPAN discussion last week, Reed pointed to the congressional redistricting fight as an example of why Democrats need to better understand and respond to the political environment in Alabama.
Montgomery, Alabama Mayor Steven Reed (D) on Rep. Shomari Figures (D-AL) seat being redrawn: “We have to understand how to operate in this new environment. This is not the Obama era.” pic.twitter.com/N8JjxbMWFX
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 18, 2026
“I’m talking to too many people in Montgomery who were not organized in Alabama to save a seat that was stolen from us midterm with a young brother by the name Shomari Figures,” Reed said.
Figures won the seat in 2024 on a map federal judges drew after tossing out the one Alabama lawmakers passed.
The Supreme Court ended that arrangement this year. The justices lifted the injunctions keeping Alabama from using the map the Legislature adopted in 2023, and the state put those lines back in place for November. Figures is running in a district that leans Republican, and the map survived a last challenge in May before the justices cleared it on June 2.
Reed also made a more pointed claim about the special legislative session Alabama held in May to prepare for the possibility of a favorable Supreme Court ruling.
“I was told three days before that the state legislature would not call a special session,” Reed said. “I was told that by somebody in the governor’s office, and then she got a call from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”
Governor Kay Ivey ultimately called the special session, during which lawmakers approved legislation allowing Alabama to hold new congressional primaries if the courts cleared the state-drawn map. After the Supreme Court acted in May, Ivey scheduled special primaries for the affected districts, including the 2nd.
Reed said Democrats need to recognize how political pressure can shape decisions at the state level.
“We just have to understand that, to your point, sometimes even those that are in the state capitals have an agenda, and there are people who are calling them to twist arms and to change minds,” Reed said.
“This is not the Obama era. This is not the Bush compassionate conservatism era,” he added. “We now know different.”
Figures is seeking reelection against Republican nominee State Rep. Rhett Marques in November.
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
