CAMPAIGN 2024: Bracy, Hatcher, Dobson enter District 2 Congressional race
The newly-redrawn Alabama Second Congressional District has attracted three candidates so far — two Democrats and one Republican.
Democratic State Rep. Napoleon Bracy, Jr. of Prichard has announced his bid.
State Sen. Kirk Hatcher, a Democrat from Montgomery, told news outlets that he also plans to run.
On the Republican side, Montgomery attorney Caroleene Dobson has qualified to run.
Federal judges last month selected new congressional district boundaries in Alabama after ruling the previous map likely violated the federal Voting Rights Act. The three-judge panel said the state, which is 27% Black, should have two districts out of seven where Black voters are the majority, or close to it, so that they have a reasonable opportunity to elect candidates of their choosing.
The new map sets the stage for potentially flipping one U.S. House of Representatives seat from Republican to Democratic control and could lead to the election of two Black Congressional representatives to the state’s delegation for the first time. Black residents make up 48.7% of the voting age population in the revamped district that stretches across south Alabama and includes Montgomery.
Bracy, who is the manager of diversity and inclusion for Austal USA, a defense contractor, said health care, economics and workforce development are the heart of progress and too many people have been left behind in communities “where poverty is still real and economic development is scarce.”
“This is our time, our time to have a seat at the table built on the backs of those who, my entire lifetime, had been disregarded by their Congressional representatives due to their voting record or area code,” Bracy, a Democrat from Prichard, said in a statement announcing his campaign.
Hatcher similarly emphasized economic issues.
“I was looking at the grocery store yesterday and thinking about how are these single-parent mothers able to go into the grocery store and get groceries, any sort of quality of food offerings for our families and children. That’s a real concern,” Hatcher, an English teacher and Head Start director, told al.com.
Republican Rep. Barry Moore, who currently represents the Second Congressional District but was drawn out when the new map was selected, announced he will challenge Republican Rep. Jerry Carl in the 1st Congressional District. Moore’s home in Enterprise is now in that district.
Qualifying for next year’s elections ends on Friday, November 10. The primaries are March 5, 2024.
(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
