Supreme Court sides with State of Alabama: State can use its own Congressional map

June 2, 2026 – MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The August 11 Congressional primary is back on and the state will be using the 2023 map prepared by Alabama's elected Legislators.

That had been clearly apparent after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the injunction on the state. Governor Kay Ivey (R) called a special session and the Republican controlled Alabama Legislature voted to jettison the Congressional map drawn by a court appointed special master and go back to the 2023 Congressional map prepared by the Legislature in an August 11 special primary. That map and that primary was then blocked by the three-judge panel in Atlanta that has previously blocked the 2023 map three years ago. On Tuesday night the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Alabama was right to adopt their own map. The U.S. Supreme Court granted the state of Alabama a stay of court orders issued last week by the three-judge panel, officially allowing the August 11 Special Primary Election to go forward using the 2023 congressional map drawn by the Alabama Legislature.

Alabama Attorney General Steve (R) released a statement applauding the landmark 6-3 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court upholding Alabama's Congressional map and the state's right to draw their own map.

"Tonight's decision is a major victory for Alabama and for the principle of self-governance," said AG Marshall. "The United States Supreme Court confirmed what we always knew: that Alabama's Congressional maps are constitutional and lawful under the Voting Rights Act. The Court's decision to stay the district court's injunction affirms that Alabama's elected representatives, not federal judges, have the primary authority to draw the maps under which Alabamians choose their own leaders."

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (R) applauded the ruling freeing the state from excessive federal interference in its elections.

"The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed what I have said all along and that is that Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best," said Gov. Ivey. "Today's decision is a win for the people of Alabama and our elections. Alabama is doing our part to keep America strong, and I am proud our state continues to fight the fight to ensure activists do not get the final say. I will see y'all at the polls August 11!"

"The Supreme Court rightly recognized that its recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais fundamentally changes the legal landscape," Marshall continued. "The district court's brazen refusal to apply that controlling precedent left the Court with no choice but to intervene and put a stop to the district court's attempts to override the will of the people. The Court also acknowledged that a state enjoined from enforcing the laws passed by its own legislature suffers real harm."

This is a major victory for the principle of states' rights and means that state legislatures and not federal courtrooms will be where district maps are drawn.

"For too long, Alabama has been denied the full measure of its sovereignty by judges who insist on treating our state as though it never moved beyond the 1960s," said Marshall. "No more. We have the same right as any other state to draw our own congressional maps according to our own legitimate districting objectives, without being held to a different and more burdensome standard by federal courts."

This is a huge win for Steve Marshalll and his team who have spent five years in federal court defending the state's right to redistrict without federal court interference.

"The High Court agreed that Alabamians should elect their representatives under the map chosen through their democratic process," stated Marshall." And we will not allow unelected judges to repeatedly redraw our State's electoral maps in defiance of the Supreme Court's own standards. We look forward to full vindication on appeal and will continue to defend Alabama's right to conduct its own elections."

This win for Marshall and his team follows on the heels of an appellate court victory over Alabama's constitutional right to draw its own state Senate districts. There the eleventh circuit ruled that federal district Judge Ana Manasco had exceeded her authority when she had a special master redraw Senate Districts 25 and 26 in Montgomery, Crenshaw, and Elmore Counties so that both district would be as close to 50:50 Black and White voters.

The Supreme Court decision in Louisiana versus Callais and it's subsequent ruling in Allen versus Milligan combined with the earlier landmark Shelby versus Holder decision which ruled that the southern states do not have to get preclearance from the federal government for their district maps has largely restored the constitutional power of the states over how they run their elections and diminished the role of the federal government in state run elections.

The big loser in this is incumbent Congressman Shomari Figures (D-Mobile). He is running for re-election in Congressional District Two, but he and most of his Mobile voters live in Mobile. The return of the 2023 map means that CD2 goes from 48 percent Black to just 28 percent. CD2 becomes much Whiter, more rural, and much more Republican.

There is a strong likelihood that Alabama will return to a 6 Republican 1 Democrat Congressional delegation after voters have their say on November 3 with Figures likely being replaced by a Republican.

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