A new map for Alabama and the prospect of a rare competitive congressional race are suddenly drawing interest from up north, as two state lawmakers from as far away as Birmingham consider a run in the newly purple district in south Alabama.

Next week, a three-judge panel will officially redraw the lines for Alabama Congressional District 2 in South Alabama. Proposed maps show the district extending as far north as Montgomery County, and south into Mobile.

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But this week, at least two congressional hopefuls have emerged with Birmingham addresses.

Senator Merika Coleman, and Rep. Juandalynn Givan – two sitting lawmakers from Birmingham – said this week that they are seriously considering a run for the congressional seat, and that residency is not much of a concern to them.

How can that be? Simply put, the U.S. Constitution allows it.

The Constitution says that as long as someone is an Alabama resident for one day – and meets the Constitution’s age and U.S. citizenship requirements — he or she can run for U.S. House or Senate.

It’s a far less stringent rule than residency requirements for running for a state legislative seat or even for a seat on a local school board or county commission. And while rarely tested in Alabama due to a lack of competitive congressional races, the so-called “carpetbagger” attempts are more common in other states.

“There has not been much in Alabama for this to be strategic for a campaign,” said Matthew Foster, professorial lecturer at American University in Washington, D.C. “We see this. I wouldn’t say it’s all the time, but it’s common.”

Birmingham interest

Interest is mounting since the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Alabama’s proposed map, ending an emergency request by the state to use their plan for the 2024 election. The decision means that, by next week, the panel will decide which map should be used for next year’s election and what exactly this newly competitive district will look like.

But we do know District 2 will remain in south Alabama, picking up parts of the Black Belt.

Of the three maps under consideration, none see District 2 extend far enough north to reach Birmingham or anywhere near Jefferson County.

Others might join Coleman and Givan. Technically, current 2nd District Congressman Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, could run for the seat. Though his hometown will likely be redrawn into the 1st congressional district, Moore could opt to run in the more competitive District 2.

Givan and Coleman are banking on name recognition among Democratic voters heading into the 2024 primaries.

Givan, a member of the State House since first elected in 2010, said she’s among the most interviewed Democrats in the State Legislature and is among the most willing to confront Republicans on the House floor during lengthy debates on issues.

She said her confrontational style, and media appearances, give her a leg up.

“I don’t necessarily believe the best representation will come because someone lives in a particular area,” Givan said. “I’m getting calls from all over. That could be that I’m one of the most interview people in the Legislature. I’m on TV more and people may know me and my work ethic as someone who takes on tough issues or fights over certain issues that my colleagues won’t fight for.”

Coleman said as a state senator for 20 years that she’s taken on issues of statewide interest. She said her work includes getting racist references removed from the Alabama State Constitution on “poll tax” and “school segregation.”

“State is in the title,” Coleman said, referring to her official title as “state senator.”

“I’m known statewide on various issues and have traveled around the state to support them,” Coleman said. “I have tentacles all around (Alabama) and family living the Black Belt and into Mobile and Prichard.”

Friends and neighbors

Few instances in Alabama history suggest an outsider can win a U.S. House seat in Alabama. Scholars, journalists, and political strategists that AL.com reached out to said they cannot recall an instance in which a politician who lived outside a congressional district in Alabama was able to win the House seat.

It’s a more common occurrence in other states, where congressional contests tend to be more competitive during general elections. In neighboring Georgia, four of 14 members of the state’s U.S. House delegation do not live in the districts they represent.

In Alabama, the most notable residency issue during a U.S. House race occurred 20 years ago in Alabama’s 1st congressional district when Tom Young – a former chief of staff to U.S. Senator Richard Shelby – ran against Jo Bonner.

About three months before the 2002 Republican primary, Young bought a house in Mobile after spending 12 years in Washington, D.C. Critics tagged Young with the “carpetbagger” label, claiming he moved to South Alabama just to run for Congress.

Young lost to Bonner, and then sold his home back to the original seller a few months later. He never ran for the seat again.

Steve Flowers, a former Republican member of the Alabama State House and longtime commentator and author on state politics, said that “friends and neighbors” associations dominate Alabama’s elections. In other words, voter familiarity with a candidate is “more pronounced” in Alabama elections than it might be elsewhere.

He predicts that “friends and neighbors” will loom large in District 2, where Montgomery is poised to be the dominate county, with the most population in the newly drawn district. He said he anticipates a Democratic or Republican politician from Montgomery County winning the congressional seat in 2024.

“I know that Coleman and Givan represent a Birmingham district in the state Legislature, but (having them win a congressional race they do not live in) would be unheard of,” Flowers said.

Withstanding criticism

At least two recent elections in Alabama suggest that residency questions will not harm a campaign, nor sway voter decisions.

Republican U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville was blasted ahead of the 2020 Republican primary for living outside of Alabama. One campaign ad referred to him as “Florida man,” and attacked the former Auburn University head coach for living in a beachfront house in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Tuberville, despite the criticism, easily won the primary and general elections.

His residency continues to generate headlines. Tuberville’s staff told national media outlets last month that the senator’s primary residence is an Auburn house owned by his wife and son, though campaign finance documents and property records suggest his main home is in Santa Rosa Beach.

Former Republican State Rep. David Cole of Madison recently resigned his seat after he plead guilty to a charge of voting fraud and for representing a seat in a district where he did not live. Cole won the Alabama State House District 10 seat in a tight general election contest despite the residency issues being known ahead of November contest.

Christopher Galdieri, author of the 2019 book, “Stranger in a Strange State: The Politics of Carpetbagging from Robert Kennedy to Scott Brown,” said voters generally rely on their party ID on making decisions about which candidate to support during a general election. Primaries, he said, were the place where carpetbagger attacks often did the most damage.

“You might not care that Hillary Clinton just moved to New York, for instance, if your main concern is that Democrats regain control of the Senate,” said Galdieri, a professor at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, referring to Clinton’s run for the U.S. Senate in New York in which she successfully beat back carpetbagging criticism.

“But in primaries, voters’ decisions are much more fluid, and they’re often driven by their impressions of the candidates, their biographies, and their personalities,” Galdieri said. “Attacking someone as ‘not from around here’ or ‘not one of us,’ can really make a difference.”

Liabilities

Jon Gray, a longtime Republican Party strategist based in Mobile, said the impact over someone’s residency might be minimal if it’s one of the few liabilities for the candidate.

“There are liabilities in every campaign,” Gray said. “If you are a candidate who filed for bankruptcy before, or if you’re divorced three times, there is liability there. If you’re a pro-choice Republican, there is a liability. So, on a scorecard of 12 items, and you are great on 10 of those items and your only big negative is that you’re out of district, it might not be a big problem.”

He said it’s unclear how impactful the issue will be until the nominating field is known. That could be relatively soon – Democrats and Republicans are holding qualifying for 2024 races in October and November.

Gray said that Moore could run in District 2, where Republican voters from Montgomery south into Troy and toward Enterprise “know who he is.”

“There is a lot of that district,” Gray said. “It could be somewhat of a rebellious run. He could say, ‘the court came in and took me away from representing the district.’ If you ask me about (residency issues) and Barry Moore, there are no negative factors.”

Moore told a radio host this week that he is “seriously praying” over whether to run again. If he decides to run in Alabama’s 1st congressional district, he will face a stiff primary challenge in incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl of Mobile, who has confirmed he will seek re-election next year.

Flowers said he believes that even if Moore decides to run in the newly drawn district, he will be hurt with the “friends and neighbors” effect of Montgomery politicians and voters.

And he highly doubts a politician from Birmingham can win the seat.

“I can’t imagine a voter in Montgomery voting for (a Birmingham politician), especially if they are running against their mayor (Steven Reed),” Flowers said. “I mean, why not just have someone from New York running in here?”