Alabama lawmakers approved a bill during last week’s special legislative session that would allow the state to hold new primary elections if courts allow plans for redistricting to move forward. 

The bill, passed less than three weeks ahead of the state’s scheduled May 19 primary election, would allow a special primary election to occur only if courts lift an injunction that requires the state to use court-drawn maps to prevent racial discrimination until 2030 in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana vs. Callais. If this injunction is lifted, Republican lawmakers seek to put in place a voting district map that would redraw the boundaries of the state’s 2nd Congressional District — currently represented by Democrat Shomari Figures. The state’s request for this injunction to be struck down is still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Special primary elections would only occur in districts affected by proposed redistricting, and would void results from the May 19 primary and take place at an unspecified date later in the summer. Affected districts would include Alabama’s 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts — both in South Alabama — and Alabama Senate Districts 25 and 26 — both in the Montgomery area.

Proposed redistricting would leave only one majority-Black district in the state: the 7th Congressional District, currently represented by Democrat Terri Sewell. 

Last week’s special session saw several protests and much public outcry, as critics called redistricting and special election efforts racist. Protests took place in and around the statehouse last week. During the House session on Friday, one protestor, Dee Reed, was removed from the gallery. 

Meanwhile, Black lawmakers often invoked the state’s history of racial discrimination and disenfranchisement during discussions of the bill.

“And I know we are going to redistrict here at some point, and we are going to look at some of the Census data, and you are going to look at some of the people in this room, you are going to look at me in the face, you are going to shake my hand, say everything nice, and you are going to redraw my district so I can’t come back,” said Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, during floor debate. 

Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile, who carried the bill on the House floor, stood at the podium for nearly three hours on Friday defending the bill. 

In both the House and the Senate, the bill passed along party lines, with all Republicans voting in favor of the bill and all Democrats voting against it. In the House, however, Rep. Rhett Marques, R-Enterprise, abstained from voting. Marques is running in the 1st Congressional District race and said voting would be a conflict of interest. He also said he believed the bill did not give Republicans enough of a majority and advocated for redrawing District 7, as well.

Alabamians deserve congressional representation that reflects who we are: a proudly conservative, red state. That means 7-0 map, not 6-1,” Marques said in a statement. 

The Alabama chapter of the NAACP is challenging the state’s request for the voting map injunction to be overturned. In a court filing made last week, the NAACP referred to state leader’s requests for a speedy review of their case as “a contrived crisis.”

“In the midst of voting for Alabama’s May primary election, the Secretary makes several remarkable requests that would thrust this Court into ‘late judicial tinkering’ that can lead to disruption and to unanticipated and unfair consequences for candidates, political parties, and voters,” the filing read.

Alabama top stories in brief

Rural Alabama hospital declares bankruptcy

• Mizell Memorial Hospital, located in Opp, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week.
• The hospital has been in operation for 75 years, and has a five-bed intensive care unit and 24-hour emergency room, as well as surgical services, rehabilitation services and clinics in rural Covington County. 
• The hospital also employs roughly 200 people — making it the largest employer in Opp — and has a roughly $48 million economic impact to the area.
• As of now, hospital administrators have said the hospital and all of its clinics will remain open and operational. 
• Since 2011, seven hospitals have closed in Alabama, and many of the state’s rural hospitals are at immediate risk of closing. Medicaid cuts under last year’s Big Beautiful Bill federal budget have placed budgetary strain on many of the state’s rural hospitals, according to industry experts. 

Birmingham-area restaurant group collapse leaves many out-of-work

• Many restaurant workers in the Birmingham area are now searching for work after more than a dozen restaurants owned by the Pihakis Restaurant Group abruptly closed over the past several weeks. 
• The Birmingham-based restaurant group — which operates more than 20 restaurants in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee —  is facing two lawsuits for unpaid bills, as well as liens over unpaid rent in two counties; totaling in at $13.7 million. 
• The restaurant group has temporarily or permanently closed several of its restaurants in the Birmingham area including Rodney Scott’s BBQ, Hero Diner, Luca, Little Donkey and Tasty Town locations. Closures affected a newly-opened development, Valley Post in Chelsea, that was comprised of four Pihakis-owned restaurants. The restaurant group also closed locations in Montgomery and the Atlanta area.  
• It is unclear how many restaurant workers have been impacted by the closures.
• Several organizations have announced job fairs for affected workers, including one that will be hosted by Grace Klein Community in Mountain Brook this Tuesday, May 12.

Baldwin County man detained by ICE three times in one year seeking court protections

• Leonardo Garcia Venega, a Baldwin County resident and U.S. citizen who was detained by ICE for the third time in a year earlier this month, appeared before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama seeking protections against being detained again.
• Venega, a concrete worker, has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents:
  • On May 21, 2025,  when he was detained while working at a construction site in Foley.
  • On June 12, 2025, when he was detained while working on another construction site in Fairhope.
  • On May 2, when he was detained outside of his home in Silverhill.
• Venega’s attorneys say during each encounter with ICE agents, Venega showed agents proof of his U.S. citizenship to no avail.
• Venega’s attorneys claim his multiple arrests violate the Fourth Amendment, and are seeking an injunction to ensure that he is not detained a fourth time.
• U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Beaverstock has not yet issued a ruling in the case.

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