Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl of Mobile is returning to the successful “Just Jerry” slogan for re-election campaign in a rare GOP battle of incumbents next year.

The first campaign ad, entitled “Told Them,” was released Tuesday and highlights Carl as a “small business guy, conservative, Christian.”

The ad also notes that Carl will not accept his congressional salary until Congress passes a federal budget. A letter he wrote to Catherine Szpindor, the chief administrative officer for the U.S. House, pops up to illustrate the congressman’s request to “Please withhold my net pay until an appropriations agreement has taken effect.”

The Senate voted on Nov. 15, to support a second continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded through January and early February.

Carl, as a member of Congress, receives an annual salary of $174,000. The salary is the same, whether it’s a member of the U.S. House of Representatives or U.S. Senate. It goes up for certain jobs such as majority and minority leaders, president pro tempore in the senate, and speaker of the house.

Carl faces incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Barry Moore of Enterprise during the March 5 GOP primary for the 1st congressional district seat after it was redrawn earlier this fall by a court-appointed Special Master. Moore is the current 2nd district congressman, but that district was redrawn to give Black voters an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice in a decision that had the backing of a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court. The winner of the Republican Primary District 1 race will face Tom Holmes, the only person to qualify for the Democratic Primary in that district, in the November 2024 general election.

The new 1st district is considerably more conservative than it was under the Legislature’s map. According to Cook Political Report’s revised Partisan Voter Index (PVI), the 1st district is now a +28 advantage for Republicans, tied for the sixth most GOP-leaning congressional district in the country. The figure is a remarkable shift from just a few years ago, when it was a +15 advantage for Republicans when former U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne represented the seat.

The largest voting age population base for the 1st district is in Baldwin County, followed by Mobile, Houston, Coffee, Dale, Covington, Escambia, Geneva and Henry counties.

The new map redrew Moore’s 2nd district to give Black voters an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice in a decision that had the backing of a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court.