Five candidates seeking the Democratic nomination in Alabama’s redrawn 2nd Congressional District took part in a 90-minute forum Tuesday night at the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery.

Rep. Napoleon Bracy of Prichard, Sen. Merika Coleman of Pleasant Grove, former Justice Department official Shomari Figures of Mobile, Rep. Juandalynn Givan of Birmingham, and Rep. Jeremy Gray of Russell County fielded questions about health care, voting laws, education, attracting good jobs to the district, and child poverty.

The moderators, SPLC State Director Tafeni English, and Tiffany Johnson Cole, an attorney and municipal judge in Tuskegee, also asked the candidates the importance of whether they live in the district. The Constitution does not require U.S. House members to live in the district they represent, only in the state, and some of the candidates in the redrawn 2nd District live in other parts of Alabama.

There are 11 Democratic candidates in the 2nd District race. The SPLC Action Fund, a tax-exempt organization that says its mission is to be a catalyst for racial justice, organized the forum and invited six of the 11 Democratic candidates to take part. The invitations were based on the top six rankings in a poll and whether the candidates had raised at $10,000 in campaign funds or received contributions from at least 20 donors.

Rep. Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, who was among the six invited, did not participate.

There are also eight Republican candidates in the race. The primary is March 5.

The stakes are high. A federal court approved a map redrawing the district in October, changing it from a safe Republican district to one where voters could elect the second Democrat and second Black representative in Alabama’s seven-member Congressional delegation.

English and Cole asked six questions and gave the candidates 70 seconds to respond and 35 seconds to give rebuttals. Candidates also made brief opening and closing statements.

Alabama is one of only 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid as allowed under the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s signature legislature. Expansion would provide health insurance to several hundred thousand Alabamians, mostly low-income working families. Alabama’s Republican lawmaker and governors have opposed expansion, saying it would be too costly to the state, although some analyses show the benefits, including better access to care for those in rural areas and support for hospitals, would outweigh the cost.

The five candidates all voiced support for Medicaid expansion and said they would promote legislation in Congress to increase the federal funding Alabama and other non-expansion states could receive, a proposal initially sponsored by former Sen. Doug Jones. Alabama’s Democratic state lawmakers have advocated for Medicaid expansion for more than a decade. Figures, who worked in the Obama administration, said if Alabama declines to expand Medicaid even with an enhanced federal funding rate, it would be time to seek other solutions.

“In the event that Alabama still refuses, I think we need to explore ways to get federal funding directly to some of the counties to provide healthcare services to the people,” Figures said.

He said those who need help fall into a coverage gap, making too much money to qualify for Medicaid currently but not enough to reasonably afford health insurance on the open marketplace.

Figures said those people “do not deserve to be victimized by a failure of leadership on one side of the aisle here in Montgomery. Their lives are too precious, and we can do better,” he said.

The five candidates were asked what they would to overcome opposition to the Freedom to Vote Act, a bill that would guarantee that states provide more early voting opportunities, which are now limited to absentee voting in Alabama. They said they supported that as well as a voting bill named after civil rights icon John Lewis that is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham. The John Lewis bill would restore a section of the Voting Rights Act that required some states to receive preclearance for election law changes.

“We need to pass the John Lewis act in addition to the Freedom to Vote Act,” Coleman said. “But how do we do that? We have to win this seat. We have to flip the House of Representatives to get the majority, and as a majority member, if the people of Congressional District 2 elect me, I will be excited to vote for both of these bills. And also to vote for Hakeem Jeffries as the first African American speaker of the House.”

Jeffries, a congressman from New York, is the House minority leader.

“But we also have to keep the Senate,” Coleman said. “We have to keep the Senate majority, and we have to re-elect Joe Biden.”

Givan said she was concerned about low voter participation.

“We’ve got to get people to the polls to vote,” Givan said. “We’ve got people registered to vote, but they’re not voting.”

“I’m going to get out here in these streets and I’m going to try to do my best to figure out why people are not voting,” Givan said. “Give them a reason to go vote. Support the John Lewis voting rights act, and continue to impress upon individuals the freedoms that they have when they do exercise their right to vote.”

Givan and several of the other candidates mentioned a bill pending in the Alabama Legislature that would make it a crime under certain circumstances to help people with absentee voting. Republicans support that bill, known as SB1. The candidates said the bill is an example of attacks on voting rights.

The candidates were asked what they would do to bring good-paying jobs to the 2nd District, career opportunities that provided a way to build generational wealth. Bracy said lack of those opportunities is driving some people out of the district.

“When I talk to parents and they send their kids off to college and they drop their kids off, the one thing that they just about all know is that none of their kids are coming home because they don’t have opportunities at home,” Bracy said.

“They’re moving to other communities where they can thrive. We need to make sure if our children leave our communities it’s because they want to leave. It’s not because they have to leave.”

Bracy said public officials have a responsibility to ensure the state’s use of taxpayer dollars to recruit industry produces the intended results.

“We offer incentives for these companies to locate in our communities and we need to make sure that they’re providing opportunities for the citizens of those communities,” Bracy said.

The moderators noted that about one-fourth of Alabama children live in poverty. They asked the candidates what they would do about food insecurity and other issues affecting the health and well-being of children.

Gray said tackling those problems starts with providing opportunities and affordable housing for parents.

“We understand that the wellness of the child also depends on the mother and the father, making sure they’re well,” Gray said. “Being able to have a good job. Being able to have adequate housing. And we can do things like affordable housing through HUD to make sure that we subsidize housing for people of low incomes.

“There’s many people who have cars that are going to work each and every day but they don’t have a home,” Gray said. “They’re homeless. We have a population who are functioning but they are homeless. They’re driving, they’re working. Sometimes they’re bathing at recreational centers and outdoor facilities. So how do we create a home for those people?”

The candidates were generally in agreement on most of the questions and issues. The biggest differences emerged on the question about the importance of whether a candidate lives in the district and whether the residency issue has received too much attention or not enough.

Figures said he was proud to be born and raised in Mobile, part of the district. He said voters will ultimately decide the importance of the residency issue.

“I think being from the district and being raised in the district, educated in the district, growing up in church in the district, I think it matters,” Figures said. “I think it’s something that voters do certainly care about significantly.”

Bracy, who grew up in Prichard, which is in the district, and served on the city council before his election to the Legislature, said the redrawn district is an opportunity for better representation for areas that he said have been overlooked in Washington.

“They never did anything for us,” Bracy said. “And I feel like this district is made up of a lot of communities that were struggling that needed somebody when we never had anybody. It was just like taxation without representation. We never had an opportunity to have federal representation. Now we finally do.

“So is it (residency) important? Yes, I think it’s important because we have people that’s been on the ground in the good times and the bad times that’s been right here in this community for a long time. Twenty years working in the community. Now we finally have an opportunity to have a seat at the table to have someone represent the communities that have been overlooked.”

Coleman, who is from Jefferson County, which is outside the district, said voters mainly want a representative who has shown they can be effective.

“As I have traveled the district, not one citizen has actually asked me that question (about residency),” Coleman said. “It’s only been politicos. I’m the one, as I do my listening sessions, I put it out there. What folks have said to me is they want somebody with experience and that has a track record of production for Congressional District 2. And as a 22-year member of the Legislature, my footprint is all over Congressional District 2.”

“And I will continue to fight for congressional district 2, whether I’m elected or not, just like I have for the past 22 years,” Coleman said.

Givan, who represents a Birmingham district in the House, said she would move to the 2nd District if elected. Givan said there are sound reasons why there is not a district residency requirement for members of Congress.

“We deal in the United States Congress on issues that are universal,” Givan said. “That is why there is no residency requirement for a man to represent the United States as its president because he will represent all 50 states. No one expects him to live in all 50 states. But he will live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to represent the people throughout the 50 states.

“I believe that I can represent the people of this congressional district because I’ve already been fighting for the people in all of these 13 counties throughout this congressional district. And I will continue to do so.”

Gray said he thinks it is important that he has represented Russell County, which is in the district, for six years, and has relationships with local officials and people in the community.

“When we think about someone that has invested in the community, essentially that’s the person should be an advocate for that community as a congressperson,” Gray said.

“We’re going to go around the district making promises, at the end of the day. And when it’s all said and done, one person is going to win. And at the end of the day, whether it’s me or someone else, I’ll still represent Russell County, I’ll still be bringing resources to District 2.”