The candidates in Alabama’s 2nd congressional district race had completely different takes on the announcement Friday that Alabama was the recipient of a $550 million federal grant for the Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project.

The money represents likely the biggest federal grants awarded to Alabama for an infrastructure project and comes from a program created through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) – long referred to as the “bipartisan infrastructure law” that has become a signature policy achievement for President Joe Biden.

Democratic congressional hopeful Shomari Figures of Mobile credited the Biden Administration for delivering the “largest infrastructure grant in the history of the state of Alabama.”

Figures also said he was disappointed that news releases – issued by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, and Alabama’s Republican congressional delegation — omitted any mention of Biden’s name, or U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

“It’s sad that we live in such a politically polarized culture that none of the Republican leadership in this state is willing to acknowledge this,” Figures said in a statement to AL.com. “If this had happened in the Trump Administration, every single statement would’ve said: ‘Trump, Trump, Trump.’”

Figures said that since the GOP leadership in Alabama “won’t say it, I will: Biden just delivered BIG for Alabama – bigger than Trump ever did. This bridge project has been needed for a very long time and will have enormous impacts in Mobile and Baldwin counties.”

Republican Caroleene Dobson of Montgomery, in a statement, credited Ivey and the congressional delegation for working hard “to make the case for this project and secure the funding, and they deserve our thanks.”

Indeed, local and state officials within the Ivey administration have lobbied and met with federal transportation officials in recent years to push for federal support for a project that could cost around $3.5 billion.

The news releases sent by Ivey and others include comments thanking Alabama lawmakers for securing the grant. None of Alabama’s Republican members of Congress voted in favor of the IIJA in 2021. U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, the lone Democratic member of Congress from Alabama, did vote in support of it. Only 13 Republicans in Congress voted in support of the IIJA.

The project, as proposed, includes a new six-lane, 215-foot-tall cable-stay bridge in downtown Mobile and an elevated new six-lane Bayway. The new Bayway construction would extend around 7.5 miles and connect downtown Mobile to Exit 98 in Daphne.

“Gov. Ivey and Alabama’s congressional delegation worked hard to make the case for this project and secure the funding, and they deserve our thanks.

Dobson recognized Trump, saying the GOP presidential hopeful has “publicly promised” to fund a six-lane expansion of I-65 through the State of Alabama “if elected to a new term.” She said an expanded I-65 will help “ease travel to the Gulf Coast and further relieve congestion.”

Regarding Biden, Dobson referenced his recent public appearances that have raised questions in the national media about his ability to win re-election in November.

“Judging from his recent debate performance, ‘big boy’ news conference, and other public appearances, Joe Biden couldn’t find Mobile if he were standing on Dauphin Street during Mardi Gras,” she said.

Dobson and Figures are engaged in a fierce race for the 2nd district seat that became an open contest after the U.S. Supreme Corut last June ruled that an Alabama Republican-drawn congressional map was in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

It was redrawn to give Black voters a better opportunity to elect a candidate of their choosing, which turns out to be in the 2nd district. The new district – stretching from Montgomery to Mobile and including a host of rural and mostly Black counties in Southwest Alabama – has a Black voting age population of 49%.

The congressional district was a +12 advantage for Biden during the 2020 election. Alabama, as a state, was a +25.4 advantage for Trump.

The contest is viewed as a pivotal one for the partisan control of the U.S. House in January 2025. The House is a 219-213 advantage for Republicans, though a host of national pundits believe the Democratic Party has an opportunity to retake it.