Six Republicans, one nomination and a congressional district transformed by a bitter map fight have turned Alabama’s 2nd District into one of the most closely watched House races of 2026.
Republican voters are choosing among Hampton Harris, Christian Horn, Rhett Marques, David Matthews, Joshua McKee and James Richardson in the August 11 special primary. The winner will challenge first-term Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures on November 3, giving the GOP fewer than 3 months to unite after a crowded contest.
This election reaches far beyond Alabama’s borders. Republicans currently represent 5 of the state’s 7 congressional districts, while Democrats hold the remaining 2. National party organizations now view the redrawn 2nd District as a possible GOP pickup that could influence control of the 435-seat U.S. House.
Trump and Britt give Marques an early advantage.
State Rep. Rhett Marques enters the 6-way primary with the most powerful collection of endorsements. President Donald Trump and Alabama Sen. Katie Britt have backed the Enterprise businessman, who has spent approximately 8 years in the state Legislature and is campaigning as a reliable vote for Trump’s agenda.
Marques also holds the race’s largest reported financial advantage. By the end of June, he had nearly $450,000 available for the campaign, compared with approximately $656,000 held by Figures. That puts the leading Republican’s cash reserve at about 69 percent of the Democratic incumbent’s total before the general-election battle has formally begun.
Harris and Horn offer voters two different alternatives.
Hampton Harris, a 29-year-old Montgomery attorney and real estate broker, offers voters a generational contrast. Harris was the only Republican challenging Figures before the district lines changed, and he chose to remain in the contest when the field expanded from 1 GOP candidate to 6.
Christian Horn brings experience from 2 previous unsuccessful campaigns, including runs for Alabama secretary of state and the former 7th Congressional District. Horn, a small-business owner, has emphasized his family’s 6-generation connection to the region while making gasoline prices, grocery bills, election security and crime central parts of his campaign.
Joshua McKee is leaning on 25 years of service as a Green Beret and his experience starting 9 businesses. He has presented himself as a candidate capable of working beyond partisan divisions, arguing that rural communities need better roads, stronger broadband access and more opportunities to attract employers.
James Richardson, a Marine veteran from Headland, has focused on infrastructure, government spending and individual freedom. He argues that roads, power systems, utilities and broadband form the economic bloodstream of the district, where even 1 missing highway connection can influence whether a major employer chooses to invest.
Matthews brings Trump administration experience.
David Matthews rounds out the 6-person field and has highlighted his service as a 2-time Trump political appointee. Matthews did not respond to interview requests from Alabama Daily News before the primary, leaving voters with less publicly reported information about his platform than they have received from several of his rivals.
How redistricting transformed the political math
The most compelling number in this race may be 14. Under the newly configured district, Trump would reportedly have carried the area by approximately 14 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, transforming a seat held by a Democrat into a major Republican target.
Figures won his first House term in 2024 with 54.6 percent of the vote under a court-ordered map designed to give Black voters a stronger opportunity to elect their preferred candidate. Alabama’s Black population represents roughly 1 in every 4 residents, yet the state’s congressional boundaries have produced years of legal conflict over minority representation.
A 79-page ruling sits behind the election drama.
A 3-judge federal panel issued a 79-page ruling in May that found one Republican-backed plan intentionally discriminated against Black voters. The map dispute eventually reshaped the election calendar, forcing special August primaries in 4 of Alabama’s 7 congressional districts instead of leaving every contest settled during the regular May voting period.
The redistricting disruption also changed the Republican candidate lineup almost overnight. Several contenders originally pursued seats in different districts, while Figures retained 8 counties from the territory he already represents. That mix gives the incumbent some established relationships but forces him to introduce himself to thousands of new voters.
National organizations have reacted to the new math with money and attention. The National Republican Congressional Committee added the seat to a target list that now includes 36 Democratic-held districts. At the same time, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee placed Figures among 26 vulnerable incumbents receiving support through its Frontline program.
Household costs take center stage.
Nearly all 6 Republican contenders have placed affordability near the top of their platforms. Alabama gasoline averaged about $3.74 per gallon at the beginning of August, according to AAA figures cited by Alabama Daily News, giving candidates a concrete number to connect with concerns about farming, transportation and household expenses.
Marques points to his vote in the Alabama Legislature to cut the state grocery tax in half. He has also tied his campaign to protecting federal tax reductions and supporting 2 major military installations in the district, Maxwell Air Force Base and Fort Rucker, which play important roles in the state’s defense economy.
Harris has linked lower fuel costs to Alabama agriculture, particularly the price of diesel used by farmers and commercial operators. His campaign also lists veterans’ services, Social Security’s long-term finances and ending birthright citizenship among its priorities, combining immediate household concerns with 3 major national policy debates.
For Richardson and McKee, infrastructure is more than a campaign slogan. They argue that expanding rural broadband, improving aging power grids and building stronger transportation links could help dozens of smaller communities compete for employers that might otherwise settle near Alabama’s larger cities.
Figures runs on his first-term record.
Figures, however, is not approaching November as an empty-handed first-term incumbent. He has highlighted 2 legislative proposals, including a measure intended to help farmers absorb tariff-related costs and another designed to assist families with extracurricular expenses. His argument is straightforward: voters should judge him on his first 2 years of constituent work rather than on the district’s new partisan numbers.
Low turnout could produce a surprising winner.
Turnout may ultimately matter more than endorsements or money. Alabama has approximately 3.8 million registered voters, but only about 11 percent participated on the original primary date, according to the Associated Press. An August 11 special election held as students return to school and families finish summer travel creates an unusually difficult turnout test.
There is also no runoff to rescue a candidate who finishes slightly behind. In this 6-way contest, the Republican with the largest plurality advances immediately, even without receiving 50 percent. A contender could therefore capture the nomination with a relatively narrow share if the remaining votes split evenly.
That rule raises the value of every organized voting bloc. Trump’s endorsement, Britt’s support, military connections, local business relationships and even 1 candidate’s strength in a single county could decide the outcome when overall participation is low.
An 84-day sprint to November begins.
The winner will have only 84 days between the August 11 primary and the November 3 general election. In that short sprint, Republicans must convert a 6-person rivalry into a unified campaign. At the same time, Figures must persuade voters that incumbency and local work matter more than a presidential result that favored Trump by 14 points.
Alabama’s 2nd District is no longer a routine congressional contest. It is a collision of 6 Republican ambitions, 2 national campaign organizations, years of courtroom battles, and 1 fragile House majority. Which candidate has the strongest chance of defeating Figures in November?
