The Birmingham Times
In Tuesday’s special Congressional primary, former Pelham City Councilman Maurice Mercer easily won the Democratic nomination for Alabama’s House District 6 to face U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer, who clenched the nomination as the Republican candidate.
In the U.S. House District 7 seat, voters selected Republican Ammie Akin to face U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, who was uncontested in the Democratic primary.
The special election was called after the Alabama Legislature voted to void the results of the May 19 primary in Congressional Districts 1, 2, 6 and 7 — which were redrawn following a legal battle over the state’s congressional map. That decision came after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the state to use a congressional map backed by Republicans, reversing an earlier ruling that found the map violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting strength of Black voters. Districts 6 and 7 cover the Birmingham area and reach into the Black Belt. Districts 1 and 2 are in South Alabama.
For District 1, former Rep. Jerry Carl won the Republican nomination to face Democratic nominee Clyde Jones, who had no opposition in the primary. In District 2, Rhett Marques secured the Republican nomination to face incumbent Rep. Shomari Figures, who was uncontested in the Democratic primary.
In Tuesday’s election, Mercer took 64.17% of the vote, besting Ashtyn Kennedy (21.35%), Keith Pilkington (7.26%) and Jacob Bouma-Sims (7.22%) to win the Democratic nomination for District 6. AP called the race at 9:51 p.m.
“Now is the time to unite and move forward,” Mercer said, Birmingham Watch reports.
Mercer, a business account executive at Spectrum Business, began his political career in 2012 when he became the first Black man elected to the Pelham City Council. He served on the council until 2025, spending the last four years of his tenure as council president.
According to Birmingham Watch, the rising cost of living and the war in Iran motivated Mercer to run for office and he also believes there’s an opportunity for Democrats to gain a foothold in the historically red district.
“I believe it’s a purple district,” Mercer said. “With Democrats, we’re going to spend time rallying our base to flip this seat. It is a purple district.”
Turnout was exceptionally low for Tuesday’s special election. Only 5.24% of eligible voters (113,493 statewide) cast their ballots, the Alabama Secretary of State reported.
Winners in Tuesday’s primaries will face their opponents in the Nov. 3 general election.
