Democratic congressional hopeful Tom Holmes is taking another shot at Alabama’s 1st Congressional District, despite losing by nearly 57 percentage points to Republican U.S. Rep. Barry Moore last November in one of the nation’s most conservative districts.

Holmes, 80, of Mobile, announced Friday that he plans to run again in 2026, citing what he believes will be a more favorable political climate—regardless of who the Republican nominee may be.

“In the 2026 midterm elections, I believe that working families and those affected by the negative actions and cuts in government services – Medicaid, healthcare, etc. – of the Trump administration will be looking for alternative representation in the U.S. Congress,” said Holmes. “I also believe that many voters will be tired of the governance by Executive Order rather than having the actual checks and balances of the legislative branch on the unlawful actions of the executive branch required by the U.S. Constitution.”

So far, Holmes is the only announced candidate for the 1st congressional district seat in 2026. Moore, the incumbent from Enterprise, has not announced his political intentions. His name has been floated as a possible candidate to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican gubernatorial hopeful Tommy Tuberville.

“The seat may be an open seat if Representative Moore decides to run for the Senate,” Holmes said. “I’ve met a lot of people who are not satisfied with Representative Moore as their House member. Whether we get more people to vote is the key thing, I think, to flip the seat.”

It will take a heavy lift. Alabama’s 1st congressional district was redrawn in 2023 to give Black voters a chance to select a candidate of their choice. As a result, the boundary lines produced a newly drawn 1st district that once included all of Mobile and Baldwin counties, into a new district that consists of only a portion of Mobile County, Baldwin County and the rural Wiregrass region.

The district is very Republican. According to Cook Political Report’s Partisan Voter Index in 2023, the district has a +28 advantage for Republicans, tied as the sixth-most GOP-leaning congressional district in the country.

Holmes, a Mobile native with a 22-plus year career in public service including two stints serving in the office of former Gov. Fob James, said he wants a second chance at the seat to see if the Republican candidate is vulnerable, if Moore decides not to run for Senate.

An Eagle Scout and a longtime Scout leader, Holmes organized in November 2019 the Arc of Mobile County Inc., a local advocacy organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He current serves as the board president.

Holmes is also a lector and lay eucharistic minister at Trinity Episcopal Church in Mobile, and currently serves as a Troop Committee member and treasurer for BSA Troop 3 in Mobile.

Asked why he was entering the race so early, Holmes said he wanted to take a different approach than what he did last year by getting into the contest late.

“The last time I got into the race, I got in the very last minute because I heard we didn’t have a candidate,” Holmes said. “I thought people should have a choice. But now I have a little more time to spend time working in the Wiregrass counties. I’ve been working in Baldwin County and a couple of others. We’ll see.”