Incumbent Barry Moore (R) defeated incumbent Jerry Carl (R) in the Republican primary for Alabama’s 1st Congressional District on March 5. As of March 6, Moore received 51.5% of the vote to Carl’s 48.5%.
On Oct. 5, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama approved new congressional districts. The new map redistricted Moore out of Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, where he had served since 2021, and into the 1st District. Click here to learn more about redistricting in Alabama following the 2020 census. As of January 2024, this race was projected as the only incumbent vs. incumbent U.S. House election.
Carl has represented the 1st District since 2021. He also served on the Mobile County Commission from 2012 to 2023, and has founded businesses in real estate, healthcare, and timber. Carl said, “At a time when our borders are being overrun, crime is on the rise in cities across America, and Joe Biden continues leading our country down the wrong path, this country needs more staunch conservatives like me who will deliver results and never back down from the fight. … I’m proud of the work my team and I have accomplished …. [w]hether it’s our efforts to secure the border, slash wasteful government spending, stop overreach by the Biden admin, and stand firm against any efforts to take away our Constitutional rights.”
Moore has represented the 2nd District since 2021. He also served in the Alabama House of Representatives, representing District 91 from 2010 to 2018. In 1998, Moore founded Barry Moore Industries. Moore said, “The new AL-01 needs an effective conservative fighter who is willing to take on the swamp and put people over politics. That is why today I filed to run for re-election. Thanks to Biden’s failed policies, our nation is $33 trillion in debt, our borders are wide open, global conflict is rampant, and Alabamians are worried about their own government weaponizing against them. We have a lot to do in Washington to get our country back on track, and my record shows I’ll never clock out when there is work to be done.”
Following the court-ordered redistricting, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter shifted its Partisan Voter Index for the 1st District from a +16 Republican advantage to a +28 Republican advantage, which tied the 1st District as the sixth most Republican-leaning congressional district nationwide.
Both candidates ran on a conservative platform. Moore said he was “[r]ated the most conservative Congressman in Alabama by CPAC.” Writing for AL.com, John Sharp said Jon Gray, a Republican political strategist, “believes the 1st district will become a focal point for the Freedom Caucus and conservatives to push for Moore’s candidacy. Moore and U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer of Hoover are the only two Alabama members of the House who are members of the far-right caucus.”
Steven Taylor, professor of political sciences at Troy University, said, “Carl, however, has the advantage of a home base of votes that is larger than Moore’s.” Additionally, voters in Baldwin and Mobile counties, which held 54% of the district’s voting-age population, were represented by Carl, according to Sharp. There were six counties in addition to Baldwin, Mobile, and Escambia in the newly redrawn district, with Moore having represented all six.