Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District has changed since career educator Phyllis Harvey-Hall won the Democratic nomination for the seat in 2020 and 2022, then lost the general election by wide margins both years.

In October, a three-judge federal court approved a new map that transformed what was mostly a southeastern Alabama district to one that spans the state east-to-west and reaches from Montgomery to Mobile.

While the old district favored Republicans, the new 2nd District is designed to give Democrats a chance to win after the court ruled the previous map likely violated the Voting Rights Act.

The opportunity to flip the seat has drawn 13 Democrats into the field, including Harvey-Hall, running for a third time. Eight Republicans are competing for the nomination to try to keep the seat in the GOP fold. The 21 candidates are more than in Alabama’s other six congressional races combined.

Harvey-Hall said one thing that has not changed is her determination to represent the district, which she believes she can do better than anyone else.

“I ran when there was a headwind,” Harvey-Hall said. “And by God, I’m running now that there’s a tailwind. Because I still believe that I’m the voice that people need at this time. And I think we need to change the face of leadership in politics in Alabama.”

Read more: Who’s running? 21 candidates join race in Alabama’s redrawn 2nd Congressional District

Harvey-Hall lost the general election to Republican Barry Moore of Enterprise in 2020, receiving 35% of the vote, and again in 2022, when she received 29%.

There’s no incumbent this time. The new map moved Moore’s hometown into District 1, and Moore is challenging U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl, R-Mobile for that seat.

The large field in the 2nd District includes several candidates who live outside the district in Birmingham and Huntsville. The Constitution requires that members of the U.S. House live in the state they represent but not the district.

Harvey-Hall said she understands residency in the district is not required. But the U.S. House is intended to be the Congressional body closest to the people, Harvey-Hall said.

“You can’t be close to them if you don’t live in the district,” Harvey-Hall said. “And that’s important. You must live in the district because you’re the person closer to the people. And that matters.”

Harvey-Hall said the 2nd District has always been her home turf. She grew up in Evergreen, earned an education degree from Alabama State University, and taught in Montgomery Public Schools from 1985 to 2010, mostly teaching sixth grade.

Now retired from the public school system, Harvey-Hall has continued to teach and is currently working as a reading coach at Life Academy in Montgomery.

The need for more federal support for public education is near the top of Harvey-Hall’s list of congressional priorities.

Harvey-Hall said she would propose a federal initiative to help recruit and retain public school teachers by providing extra pay and by forgiving for teachers’ student loans.

Harvey-Hall said Alabama and other states need to address shortages of teachers by encouraging more people to complete traditional teacher education programs in college. She said that is a better solution than filling jobs by hiring people from other professions who are not trained teachers.

Other priorities for the candidate include criminal justice reform, Medicaid expansion, and higher wages to help families squeezed by inflation.

Harvey-Hall said her teaching career has allowed her to see how issues overlap, especially the difficulty that low-income families face in helping their children succeed in school.

“So many parents are working two jobs,” Harvey-Hall said. “They’re stressed. They don’t have the time to really invest in their children, as far as giving them that extra time at home, to do homework, to read.

“They’re so busy taking care of putting food on the table and trying to make sure that they have some form of health care that there’s not enough time left for families to really spend time together to read together, to really engage in activities that promote literacy and the basic facts of math.”

Harvey-Hall said one part of the answer is higher wages. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which has not increased since 2009, applies in Alabama because Alabama does not have a state minimum wage. That’s well below what it takes to sustain a household budget, Harvey-Hall said.

Harvey-Hall said she would support an increase to $11 an hour, followed by a gradual increase to $15 while monitoring economic conditions and inflation.

“We have enough people, researchers in Congress, to look at how that wage would affect companies,” Harvey-Hall said. “But some of our larger corporations would not even be affected by that.”

Alabama is one of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid to provide healthcare coverage to low-income working families as allowed under the Affordable Care Act. Alabama’s Republican governors and GOP-controlled Legislature have cited the cost in their opposition to expanding Medicaid, although federal dollars would cover the largest share.

While Medicaid expansion is a state decision, Harvey-Hall said she would advocate for it in Congress and work to maintain the federal incentives for states that choose expansion.

Harvey-Hall said it would be a good policy not only for health care but for the economy because of the costs and negative consequences that result from having a large portion of the population without health insurance.

“We are paying for it at the emergency rooms,” Harvey-Hall said. “And people without health are people that have no wealth.”

Harvey-Hall called Alabama’s prison system “horrific” and said she would support reforms that send fewer people to prison and provide more community programs for youth.

Republicans hold six of Alabama’s seven congressional seats. Harvey-Hall said Democrats cannot afford to miss an historic opportunity to win in the redrawn 2nd District and claim second seat.

“It is paramount that we win this seat,” Harvey-Hall said. “We went through so much work, there were so many people fighting for this. And now that we have it, we do not need to lose it. We have this shot, by all means, we need to make certain that we win.”