With about one week to spare, a group of potential U.S. congressional hopefuls gathered on a convention center stage in Mobile Friday to discuss the struggles and opportunities for Black-owned and minority businesses in Alabama.

But none of the hopefuls – Alabama State House Minority Leader Rep. Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville; Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed; and Shomari Figures, the former deputy chief of staff and counselor to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland – would confirm their candidacy almost one week before the state’s Democratic Party’s deadline to file in the newly drawn 2nd congressional district.

The other two on the panel were Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin and State Rep. Sam Jones, D-Mobile. The moderator was Roland Martin, a veteran Black journalist and owner of Black Star Network.

“I think people want to think about how the field plays out,” said Figures, the son of state Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile. “I think by doing due diligence, people should be spending more time talking to people before jumping in.”

Indeed, it’s been slow going for candidates to qualify to run for a congressional district that has seen a dramatic shift within the past month from a safe Republican House seat to one that now favors a Democrat.

Only two Democrats have qualified to run – State Rep. Jeremy Gray of Opelika and Willie J. Lenard. State Rep. Napoleon Bracy of Prichard and Sen. Kirk Hatcher of Montgomery have announced they plan to run. A number of other legislators and county commissioners are contemplating bids.

The only Republican to qualify to run is Caroleene Dobson, a Montgomery attorney. The current 2nd district congressman, Republican Barry Moore of Enterprise, is running against U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl of Mobile in a battle of incumbents for the newly redrawn and highly conservative 1st congressional district.

The deadline to qualify to run is 5 p.m. Nov. 10.

Daniels said he will make his decision on whether to run by 5 p.m. on Thursday. He said he wants to wait until after a bill signing on legislation he sponsored last spring that would exempt overtime pay from income taxes, subject to a $25 million cap.

“I didn’t want anything to be a distraction to that moment that is important me and the people of Alabama,” Daniels said.

He said his decision to run does not depend on what anyone else is doing.

“It doesn’t matter who gets in this race,” he said. “That won’t impact my decision. It doesn’t matter to me.”

Daniels, who does not live in the district, said he is from Bullock County, which is in the 2nd district. He also said he has been a past advocate for South Alabama, acknowledging that he defended Mobile and Baldwin counties during the 2016 legislative debate over the fate of $1 billion in BP oil spill settlement money.

“It was me who stood on the floor against North Alabama to make sure the BP money stayed (in South Alabama),” Daniels said, saying he was encouraged by the people who were contacting him about running.

“I am feeling good,” he said.

Reed, the first Black mayor of Montgomery who would be considered a frontrunner if he decides to run, said he will make an announcement next week.

Reed has not publicly confirmed his role in the congressional race, but Hatcher – who says he is a close friend to Reed – told AL.com earlier this week that Reed was out, and he was going to run instead.

“Right now, we want to support the Port City Classic,” Reed said after the forum, which is part of the Port City Classic weekend of events highlighted by a football game on Saturday between two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) — Alabama State Hornets and Grambling State Tigers.

“It’s important for everyone to understand economic opportunity around Alabama, not just in our city but this entire state,” Reed said. “I’m glad they pulled this together … moving this state forward if we create opportunities for Black businesses and small minority businesses.”

Figures said he will also make an announcement on the fate of his candidacy by mid-week, or Thursday at the latest.

“It’s a tough decision,” he said. “I won’t say which way I’m leaning. This process has been very encouraging.”

If Figures decides not to run, his mother – Vivian, the state senator – will likely decide to run. But Shomari Figures said his mom is “encouraging essentially whatever decision I make. She has given me the deference here to sort of make this decision.”

Figures said he is living in Mobile, relocating to Alabama to meet the residency requirements to run for Congress. The U.S. Constitution does not have a residency requirement requiring someone to live within the congressional district they are pursuing. But the Constitution does require a candidate to live within the state.

Figures also said he stepped away from his position within the Department of Justice to “even have these type of conversations, forming a team and raising money.”

“We’ve been making the rounds, talking to a lot of people and participating in these conversations and getting a lot of feedback,” Figures said. “If nothing else, it’s been incredibly inspirational, incredibly informative and incredibly validating about things I’ve known about this region, this city and what is now this new District 2.”

That new District 2 is a tantalizing opportunity for the Democratic Party. Cook Political Report rates the newly drawn district as a +4 Democratic advantage, according to the latest Partisan Voting Index analysis provided last month to AL.com.

That new score, based on past presidential race outcomes, represents a dramatic shift from a congressional district rated a +17 advantage for Republicans under the previous congressional map.

The district was redrawn by a Special Master and was solidified in early October by federal judges following a highly-watched court case in Allen v. Milligan that went before the U.S. Supreme Court and which resulted in the new district lines.

The district now stretches into most of Mobile and northeast into Montgomery and to the Alabama-Georgia border in Russel and Barbour counties.

The three-judge panel twice struck down the Alabama Legislature’s congressional district map proposals, arguing the state should have two districts where Black voters have an opportunity to elect their preferred candidates. Because of racially polarizing voting that dominants state elections, the map would need to include a second district where Black voters are the majority.

The U.S. Supreme Court backed the panel’s arguments that the GOP-controlled Legislature’s maps were violations to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The new District 2′s voting-age population is 47.6% Black-45% white. The end result is that the new map, instead of six safe Republican districts and one safe Democratic district, will now have two districts where Democrats have a realistic chance to win – District 2 and District 7. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, has filed to run again for the District 7 seat. Republican Robin Litaker is filed to run for the District 7 seat as a Republican.

Alabama, since 1992, has only had one Black congressional district since Reconstruction. Only three Black members of Congress have been elected from the state, all from Alabama’s 7th congressional district – Earl Hilliard, Artur Davis and Sewell.