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Alabama's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Democratic primary)

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2026
2022
Alabama's 1st Congressional District
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge.png
Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: November 10, 2023
Primary: March 5, 2024
Primary runoff: April 16, 2024
General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting in Alabama
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Republican
Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
Alabama's 1st Congressional District
1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th
Alabama elections, 2024
U.S. Congress elections, 2024
U.S. Senate elections, 2024
U.S. House elections, 2024

A Democratic Party primary took place on March 5, 2024, in Alabama's 1st Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate would run in the district's general election on November 5, 2024.

Tom Holmes advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Alabama District 1.

All 435 seats were up for election. At the time of the election, Republicans had a 220 to 212 majority with three vacancies.[1] As of June 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Republican candidate won 83.6%-15.7%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 74.7%-24.3%.[2]

Alabama conducted redistricting between the 2022 and 2024 elections. As a result, district lines in this state changed. To review how redistricting took place in Alabama and to see maps of the new districts, click here. For a list of all states that drew new district lines between 2022 and 2024, click here.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
November 10, 2023
March 5, 2024
November 5, 2024



A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Alabama uses an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[3][4][5]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Alabama's 1st Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results


Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Tom Holmes advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Alabama District 1.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Image of Tom Holmes

WebsiteFacebook

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography "I was born in Mobile, educated in Mobile County Public Schools, and graduated from Murphy High School. I received a B.A. degree from University of Mobile, a graduate degree from Jacksonville (Alabama) State University in Public Administration, and completed graduate studies in Public Administration at Auburn University. I am a U.S. Navy veteran, with service during the Vietnam War era. I worked in the Mobile County Probate Court and was social studies teacher, Murphy High School and Dunbar Junior High School. I was district executive, Mobile Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. I was personnel development specialist, East Alabama Planning Commission (Anniston) and nutrition coordinator and area agency on aging director, Birmingham Regional Planning Commission. I joined the State of Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (Montgomery) as a state plans coordinator and served as Chief, Technology Section, Science and Technology Division. I was administrative assistant and executive assistant for Governor Fob James. I was executive director/CEO, The Arc of Alabama and Board President, The Arc of Mobile County, advocating for the rights of people with intellectual/developmental disabilities and their families. I am an Eagle Scout and BSA Troop 3 Leader, and member, Cottage Hill Civitan Club, Mobile County Democratic Executive Committee, and Alabama Arise. I am a licensed lay preacher and lay eucharistic minister at Trinity Episcopal Church."


Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.


Economy. Our nation works best when it works for everyone. Increasing economic opportunities for our citizens means increasing the minimum wage to a living wage, eliminating the gender gap to ensure equal wages for equal work, especially for women and minorities, eliminating unfair taxes, and practicing fiscal responsibility so that we may grow our economy without growing our debt. We must also continue our investment in small businesses, which are the backbone of our nation's economy.


Voting Rights. Every citizen's vote should be heard at the ballot box. I support ways to improve voter participation, including absentee voting, curbside voting for seniors and those with disabilities, and easing burdensome restrictions on voter ID aimed at limiting minority voter participation. The Voting Rights Act should be re-established and strengthened. I strongly support the fair and independent drawing of state and federal legislative districts and the elimination of partisan or racial gerrymandering for fair elections.


Immigration. Our country's immigration laws are inadequate and are not working. Members of Congress should work with the President to address effective changes to our laws. Every immigrant should be treated with dignity and respect and be entitled to due process under our laws. In addition, adequate holding facilities should be provided and funded without the need to separate families and children.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Alabama District 1 in 2024.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Alabama

Election information in Alabama: March 5, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: Feb. 16, 2024
  • By mail: Postmarked by Feb. 17, 2024
  • Online: Feb. 19, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

No

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: Feb. 29, 2024
  • By mail: Received by Feb. 27, 2024
  • Online: N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: March 4, 2024
  • By mail: Received by March 5, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

N/A

What were the early voting start and end dates?

N/A to N/A

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. (CT)


Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Tom Holmes Democratic Party $17,699 $16,818 $410 As of December 31, 2024

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

  • District map - A map of the district before and after redistricting ahead of the 2024 election.
  • Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
  • State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.


Below is the district map used in the 2022 election next to the map in place for the 2024 election. Click on a map below to enlarge it.

2022

2023_01_03_al_congressional_district_01.jpg

2024

2025_01_3_al_congressional_district_01.jpg
See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Alabama.

Alabama U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024
Year Districts/
offices
Seats Open seats Candidates Possible primaries Contested Democratic primaries Contested Republican primaries % of contested primaries Incumbents in contested primaries % of incumbents in contested primaries
2024 7 7 1 36 14 2 6 57.1% 6 85.7%
2022 7 7 1 21 14 3 2 35.7% 1 16.7%
2020 7 7 2 25 14 2 3 35.7% 1 20.0%
2018 7 7 0 23 14 4 3 50.0% 3 42.9%
2016 7 7 0 16 14 0 4 28.6% 4 57.1%
2014 7 7 1 20 14 1 3 28.6% 3 50.0%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Alabama in 2024. Information below was calculated on 1/10/2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Thirty-six candidates filed to run for Alabama's seven U.S. House districts, including 15 Democrats and 21 Republicans. That's 5.14 candidates per district, more than in the previous three election cycles. There were 3.14 candidates per district in 2022, 3.57 candidates per district in 2020, and 3.28 in 2018.

This was the first election to take place under new district lines that a three-judge panel of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama approved on Oct. 5, 2023. The 36 candidates who filed to run this year were a decade-high. Twenty-one candidates ran in 2022, 25 in 2020, 23 in 2018, 16 in 2016, 20 in 2014, and 23 in 2012.

Two incumbents—Reps. Jerry Carl (R) and Barry Moore (R)—filed to run against each other in the redrawn 1st congressional district. Carl was the incumbent in the 1st district, and Moore was the incumbent in the 2nd congressional district.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+28. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 28 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Alabama's 1st the 7th most Republican district nationally.[6]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in Alabama's 1st based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
24.3% 74.7%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.[7] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline Democratic Party Republican Baseline Republican Party Difference
24.7 75.0 R+50.3

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Alabama, 2020

Alabama presidential election results (1900-2020)

  • 16 Democratic wins
  • 13 Republican wins
  • 2 other wins
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960[8] 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winning Party D D D D D D D D D D D D SR[9] D D D R AI[10] R D R R R R R R R R R R R
See also: Party control of Alabama state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Alabama's congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Alabama
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 0 1 1
Republican 2 6 8
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 7 9


State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Alabama's top four state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in Alabama, May 2024
Office Officeholder
Governor Republican Party Kay Ivey
Lieutenant Governor Republican Party Will Ainsworth
Secretary of State Republican Party Wes Allen
Attorney General Republican Party Steve Marshall

State legislature

Alabama State Senate

Party As of February 2024
     Democratic Party 8
     Republican Party 27
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 35

Alabama House of Representatives

Party As of February 2024
     Democratic Party 28
     Republican Party 75
     Other 0
     Vacancies 2
Total 105

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

Alabama Party Control: 1992-2024
Six years of Democratic trifectas  •  Fourteen years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Governor R D D R R R R D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Alabama in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Alabama, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Alabama U.S. House Ballot-qualified party N/A Fixed by party 11/10/2023 Source
Alabama U.S. House Unaffiliated 3% of all votes cast for governor in the district in the last election N/A 3/5/2024 Source

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. A majority in the U.S. House when there are no vacancies is 218 seats.
  2. Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2020 presidential results by congressional district, for new and old districts," accessed September 15, 2022
  3. National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed July 22, 2024
  4. Justia, "Alabama Code § 17-13-1," accessed July 22, 2024
  5. Justia, "Alabama Code § 17-3-30," accessed July 22, 2024
  6. Cook Political Report, "The 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI℠)," accessed January 10, 2024
  7. Inside Elections, "Methodology: Inside Elections’ Baseline by Congressional District," December 8, 2023
  8. Although he was not on the ballot, Harry F. Byrd (D) won six unpledged electoral votes in Alabama's 1960 election against Richard Nixon (R) and Democratic Party nominee John F. Kennedy. Kennedy won Alabama's popular vote and received five electoral votes.
  9. States' Rights Democratic Party
  10. American Independent Party


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
Republican Party (7)
Democratic Party (2)