Alabama House District 16

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Alabama State House of Representatives, District 16 is a legislative district that includes Fayette County, southern Lamar County, northern Tuscaloosa County and western Jefferson County. As of the 2020 census, the district represents 43,150 people and is 85% white.

District 16 was once much more compact, covering representing just Fayette and Lamar Counties in west Alabama, bordering Mississippi. Daniel Boman of Sulligent, Lamar County, ran as a Republican in 2010 to defeat incumbent Democrat William Thigpen, but switched to the Democratic party in 2011 after breaking with GOP leaders over a bill to make it easier to fire tenured educators.

The 16th District was drastically redrawn by the Republican-led legislature in 2012, removing much of its area in Lamar County and stretching it into northern Jefferson County. The change was interpreted by Democrats as an attempt to punish Boman for switching parties by cutting much of his base out of the district while also adding another Republican district into the Jefferson County Legislative Delegation, giving it a slight Republican majority.

The Alabama Legislative Black Caucus and Alabama Democratic Conference filed suit in federal court to oppose the redistricting plan and their position was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on March 25, 2015, sending the matter back to the lower courts for a ruling. The legislature redrew the affected districts in May 2017, and objections to the newly redrawn districts were dismissed that October.

Cable company manager Kyle South of Fayette ran as a Republican and defeated Boman in the 2014 general election and was re-elected in 2018 and 2022. He resigned in 2023 to become president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama.

2024 special election

On July 8, Governor Kay Ivey scheduled a special election on January 9, 2024 to fill the vacant seat left by South's resignation. She scheduled party primaries for the special election on September 26, with run-offs, if necessary, to be held on October 24. The deadline to qualify for the primaries was set for July 25, and the deadline for candidates to qualify for the general election was September 26. Turnout for the general election in the heavily Republican-leaning district was about 8.6%.

Candidates

Democratic primary

The primary election was canceled and John Underwood was nominated by the party.

Rebublican primary

General election

Representatives

References

  • Chandler, Kim (June 19, 2012) "Alabama Democrats cry foul over party switcher Daniel Boman's redrawn state House district." The Birmingham News
  • Whitmire, Kyle (November 5, 2014) "Alabama Democrats take redistricting fight to the Supreme Court." The Birmingham News
  • Liptak, Adam (March 25, 2015) "Supreme Court Rules Against Alabama in Redistricting Case." The New York Times
  • Cason, Mike (May 19, 2017) "Alabama lawmakers finish approval of redistricting plans." The Birmingham News
  • Cason, Mike (July 8, 2023) "Kay Ivey schedules special election for House seat vacated by Kyle South resignation." AL.com

External links