TUSKEGEE — U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures is defending his seat in the November midterm elections under a new congressional map that places Tuskegee in a district where white voters constitute the majority. The redrawn lines follow an April U.S. Supreme Court ruling affecting challenges to congressional maps based on racial discrimination.

Figures, a Democrat, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2024 and became the first Black person to represent Tuskegee in Congress in modern history. He is now seeking another term in a district where his home city, which is more than 80% African American, no longer falls within a majority-Black constituency.

"I think it's purely racially motivated. There's literal evidence in the record of state legislators referring to Montgomery during the redistricting process as 'monkey town,'" Figures said of the new map.

Tuskegee, a rural city in Alabama with a population of less than 9,000, has economic and infrastructure challenges, with nearly one in three people living in poverty and no general hospital or 24-hour emergency-care clinic. Residents often rely on the fire department for medical emergencies. Figures secured $1 million in federal funding for a planned civic center that would serve as a fallout shelter and house both the city's police and fire departments.

Figures is a native of Mobile, Alabama, and has built his tenure on directing federal resources toward cities like Tuskegee. The civic center project is intended to address a gap in both public safety and emergency preparedness for a community that has long lacked a dedicated health-care facility.

"When you come from those communities, when your people come from a line of those communities, you care more about making sure that you leverage the position that you're in for the benefit of all communities," Figures said.

The legal battle over Alabama's congressional maps began in 2023, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a map drawn by the Republican-led legislature for violating the Voting Rights Act. The court's ruling in April further limited the ability to challenge new maps on racial discrimination grounds, clearing the way for the current district lines.

Montgomery, Alabama, is over 60% African American, and research indicates that approximately 83% of Black voters support the Democratic Party. The new map effectively fractures that base by dispersing Black voters across multiple districts.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall disputed the characterization of the map. "I don't believe that there's been a direct targeted history... in a way that suppresses minority voter participation," Marshall said.

Mike Rogers, a Republican, previously represented the area including Tuskegee. Figures unseated Rogers in 2024, and now faces a second contest under the redrawn boundaries.

Joe Reed, a civil rights activist and lawyer based in Montgomery, said the new map would diminish political influence. "It's a big setback for black people," Reed said.

The debate over the map continues through the midterm election cycle, with Figures positioned as the incumbent defending his record of federal investment in a district that now includes a larger share of white voters than before.

The redrawn congressional map places Tuskegee in a majority-white district, altering the political dynamics in a city that is more than 80% African American and where nearly a third of residents live in poverty. Figures, the first Black person to represent Tuskegee in Congress in modern history, has directed $1 million in federal funding toward a civic center project intended to house police and fire operations and serve as a fallout shelter.

The map change follows a sequence of Supreme Court rulings, including the 2023 decision striking down Alabama's prior map under the Voting Rights Act and the April ruling limiting challenges to new maps on racial discrimination grounds. The dispute intersects with Tuskegee's long-standing reliance on federal resources in a city without a general hospital or 24-hour emergency clinic, where the fire department routinely serves as the primary medical emergency responder.