CHICAGO – All week at the Democratic National Convention, Alabama delegates who spoke to AL.com said they looked forward to Shomari Figures’ Thursday night address, describing it as a moment of optimism for Alabama Democrats.
“I think we in Alabama are at a deficit of capable, qualified elected officials,” delegate Jamie Lowe said, citing Sen. Tommy Tuberville and Gov. Kay Ivey. “Having a young, energized Democrat who looks like me in Shomari Figures … I think that for the first time in a very, very, very long time, Alabama Democrats have something to celebrate.”
A state in which incumbent Democratic Sen. Doug Jones was unseated and former President Donald Trump won by over 25 percentage points in 2020, Alabama, delegates said, is often disregarded as a red state. Figures’ speech suggested otherwise, they said.
“I think Shomari is running in such a way that his momentum, his enthusiasm and the enthusiasm surrounding him will have a trickle-down effect and a trickle-around effect in some of our more red districts, like the one I live in,” Lowe, Alabama’s youngest delegate and the chair of the Lee County Democratic Party, said.
In his Thursday speech, Figures honored his late father, former State Sen. Micheal Figures, and his mother State Sen. Vivian Figures — a delegate who attended her 11th DNC in Chicago. Pointing to Harris as a fighter for freedoms, Figures urged listeners to “pop out and vote.”
“Listen, all of America, all of us; All of us owe a debt to courageous freedom fighters, both known and unknown, a debt that can never be re-paid,” he said. “But what we can do is ensure that the work of those fighters that came before us continues.”
Figures is running against Republican Caroleene Dobson in the race to send a representative from the newly redrawn district, which includes Montgomery and Mobile, to Congress in November. The winner between the two first-time candidates could tip the balance for control over the House of Representatives.
“We’re excited about getting another congressman in [Alabama’s second district],” Randy Kelley, the chair of the state’s Democratic Party, said. “He’s very intelligent, and we thank God for him, and for him offering himself for public service.”
Alongside Figures’ speech, the delegation’s lodging and seats on the floor of the United Center were cause for excitement. The delegation spent the week in the Palmer House with a handful of other delegations, including Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
During breakfasts and around the hotel, District 7 delegate Sheila Smoot said members of the Alabama delegation saw “heavy hitters” in Gov. Andy Beshear and Gov. Josh Shapiro. In meetings, they heard from union leaders who spoke about issues in her state, including unionizing Amazon workers.
“We’ve heard many powerful women, powerful black women, here,” Smoot said. “We’ve been very fortunate that Congresswoman Sewell has brought in some of those powerful voices to our breakfasts.”
Among those voices was Vanessa Pettway, wife of Sheriff Mark Pettway, who delivered the benediction at the delegation’s Thursday breakfast.
As they watched convention programming from their seats, members of the Alabama delegation soon realized just above their seats, near the Utah and Alaska delegations to the left of the stage, was Gov. Tim Walz’s booth.
After being seated far from the stage in past conventions, Alabama’s spot in Chicago — just to the left of the stage in the 110s sections at the United Center — was the result of the DNC listening to the delegation’s requests to be closer, Smoot said.
With their signs in the air, Alabama delegates noticed photographers and press moving toward their section and pointing above them. Delegates turned around and saw a booth containing the Walz family and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who waved to them.
“I’ve never seen the energy of the DNC like I’ve seen it this week,” Smoot said.
Sofia Abdullina, a Syracuse University senior from Boston studying magazine, news and digital journalism and international relations, and Griffin Uribe Brown, a junior from Chicago studying magazine, news and digital journalism and policy studies, are reporting for AL.com during the Democratic National Convention. They are covering the DNC as part of a program with Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
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Publish date : 2024-08-23 09:27:00
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