Figures, Dobson win nominations for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Alabama voters cast their ballots in Tuesday’s primary runoff, and now they know the two candidates who will face off in November for the state’s newly redrawn 2nd Congressional District.

The Associated Press called the Democratic nomination for Shomari Figures with 61% of the vote. Unofficial totals show he got 21,926 votes compared to state House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels’ 13,990.

Figures served as deputy chief of staff and counselor to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. He is also the son of state Sen. Vivian Davis Figures and the late Senate President Pro Tem Michael Figures, both of whom were prominent in Alabama politics.

On the Republican side, political newcomer Caroleene Dobson overcame former state legislator Dick Brewbaker with 58% of the vote, or 14,688 compared to 10,454.

Dobson is an attorney with the Maynard Nexsen law firm. She was raised in the Monroe County town of Beatrice and later moved to Texas. She returned to Alabama in 2019.

Her campaign biography says she serves with the Alabama Forestry Commission, is active with the Federalist Society and serves on the board of the Southeastern Livestock Exposition.

Her opponent, Brewbaker, served in the state House of Representatives from 2002-2010. He was then elected to the state Senate, where he served until 2018.

The redrawn congressional district has gotten a lot of attention and will likely be hotly contested, as Democrats see it as an opportunity to gain a U.S. House seat while Republicans push to keep their slim House majority.

A federal court redrew the 2nd Congressional District last year in an effort to better represent Black voters after determining the state’s previous map likely violated the Voting Rights Act.

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