The map is at the Supreme Court, and Monday matters.
On May 26, the three-judge federal panel again struck down Alabama's 2023 congressional map, repeating its finding of "undisputed evidence" of intentional racial discrimination, and ruled that the August 11 special primaries should proceed under the prior court-drawn districts — the same lines that sent Shomari Figures to Washington in 2024.
Alabama did not wait. Attorney General Steve Marshall immediately appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and filed an emergency application to use the state's 2023 map, and Alabama's leadership asked the justices to rule by Monday, June 1, so the map can be in place for the 2026 elections. As of this weekend, the Court has not ruled. (Sources: Alabama Reflector, CBS News, Al Jazeera, May 27, 2026.)
The terms of the August 11 election in District 2 are not settled. Which map governs — and therefore how winnable this seat is — turns on a decision that could land any day now.
What's actually at stake.
This is the whole ballgame for District 2. If the 2023 Alabama-drawn map stands, District 2 becomes a genuine opportunity to elect a representative who reflects the district's values — the outcome this effort exists to achieve. If the court-drawn map stays in place, the district remains configured as the seat Figures won in 2024, and the climb is steeper.
That is why the next few days matter more than any ad, any poll, or any endorsement. The Court sets the field everyone else plays on.
Figures is defending the map that drew him the seat.
Shomari Figures was elected in 2024 under the court-drawn lines, and he has lined up squarely behind the litigation that keeps those lines in place, pointing to the panel's repeated discrimination findings. That is his right. But it is worth naming plainly: the incumbent's strongest argument for keeping his seat is the map a court drew for him, not the case he can make to the district's voters. The contest he is least eager to have is the one on a level field.
The field forming for August 11.
Under the special-election calendar Governor Ivey set after the May 11 Supreme Court order, qualifying for the August 11 primary ran May 20 to 22 for the major parties, with 21 candidates qualified across the four affected districts — the 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th.
Hampton Harris was the first, and at qualifying the only, Republican to qualify in District 2, and he has confirmed he is continuing his campaign. His message is consistency: he ran when the lines favored Democrats and is still running now. "Commitment, not convenience."
Others are in the broader AL-02 picture. David Matthews, an Ozark native and USDA Rural Development official under both Trump administrations, has announced; state Representative Rhett Marques moves into play as Coffee County shifts to AL-02 under the 2023 map. The Republican side is forming around the premise that the seat is winnable — if the map holds.
What to watch.
A Supreme Court order — it could come as early as Monday, June 1, and it decides which map governs August 11.
Candidate certification under the amended special-primary calendar once the map question resolves.
How Figures and his allies frame the litigation if the Court lets the 2023 map proceed.
Key dates ahead.
Monday, June 1 — Alabama has asked the Supreme Court to rule by this date; an order on the stay applications could come this week.
Tuesday, June 16 — statewide GOP primary runoffs. No AL-02 ballot item, but turnout in Mobile and the Wiregrass is a leading indicator for August 11.
Tuesday, August 11 — AL-02 special primary, if the schedule holds. Plurality wins, no runoff. The Republican winner is the nominee on November 3.
Tuesday, November 3 — General Election Day. District 2 votes.
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