This year, Alabama and two other states — Tennessee and Louisiana — reopened their filing deadlines for primary elections for the U.S. House of Representatives after the initial deadline passed. Each state reopened its filing deadline after passing new congressional maps ahead of this year's elections. Here's how this move affected primaries in Alabama.

The initial filing deadline and election dates remained the same for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th congressional districts. The filing deadline was on Jan. 23, 2026, and the primaries were on May 19, 2026. If no candidates won at least 50% of the vote in a primary, the two candidates who received the most votes advanced to a primary runoff on June 16, 2026.

The filing deadline and election dates were rescheduled for the 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th congressional districts. The filing deadline reopened from May 20 to May 22, 2026, and the primaries were scheduled for Aug. 11, 2026. A primary runoff date was not scheduled.

On Oct. 5, 2023, a three-judge panel approved a new congressional district map following a lawsuit challenging the original map drawn by the Alabama Legislature. The new map added a second majority-Black district to comply with the Voting Rights Act. After the U.S. Supreme Court decided Louisiana v. Callais in April 2026, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R), on May 1, 2026, called a special session to reschedule the primaries and reinstate the original 2023 map. 

On May 11, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the lower-court injunctions against the original 2023 map, allowing it to be used in the upcoming elections. On May 26, 2026, a lower court again blocked the original 2023 map. The state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court the following day. On June 2, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the lower court order blocking the original 2023 map, allowing it to be used in the upcoming elections.

Before Alabama's filing deadline reopened, six primaries — two Democratic and four Republican — were contested. After the deadline reopened, the number of contested primaries increased to nine — the most since 2014. Three of those nine primaries are Democratic, and six are Republican. 

In total, there were eight contested primaries in 2024, five in 2022, five in 2020, seven in 2018, four in 2016, and four in 2014.

However, the number of incumbents running in contested primaries remained the same. All three incumbents running in contested primaries this year are Republicans. There were six incumbents in a contested primary in 2024, one in 2022, one in 2020, three in 2018, four in 2016, and three in 2014.

The number of open districts also remained the same after no additional incumbents announced their retirements. One incumbent — Rep. Barry Moore (R-1st) — announced before the deadline reopened that he would retire to run for the U.S. Senate. There was one open district in 2024, one in 2022, two in 2020, none in 2018, none in 2016, and one in 2014.

Before the deadline reopened, the open 1st Congressional District attracted the most candidates. Eight candidates — one Democrat and seven Republicans — initially filed to run for the district. After the deadline reopened, five candidates — one Democrat and four Republicans — ultimately filed to run.

Due to a decrease in candidacies in the 1st Congressional District and an increase in the 2nd Congressional District, the latter ultimately attracted the most candidates.

Before the deadline reopened, the 2nd Congressional District attracted two candidates — one Democrat and one Republican. After the deadline reopened, seven candidates — one Democrat and six Republicans — filed to run.

Before the filing deadline reopened, 25 candidates — 10 Democrats and 15 Republicans — filed to run for Alabama's seven districts. That's 3.6 candidates per district. After the deadline reopened, the number of candidates increased to 53 — 13 Democrats and 19 Republicans. That's 4.6 candidates per district. 

There were 5.1 candidates per district in 2024, three in 2022, 3.6 in 2020, 3.3 in 2018, 2.3 in 2016, and 2.9 in 2014.

Initially, the 7th Congressional District was guaranteed to Democrats because no Republicans filed to run for the district. After the deadline reopened, two Republicans filed to run in the district. As a result, no districts are guaranteed to either party since Democrats and Republicans filed to run in all seven districts.

Alabama and four other states — Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin — are holding U.S. House primaries on Aug. 11, 2026.