Two Republicans vie for 7th congressional district nomination in special August primary

Republican voters in Alabama’s 7th Congressional District will choose between former educator Ammie Akin and retired pastor David Perry for the party’s nominee in a special primary election in August. 

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Selma, is running for her ninth consecutive term with no primary opponent. The district covers western central Alabama, including portions of Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties. The district has not been represented by a Republican in over six decades.

Following a special session of the Legislature, Gov. Kay Ivey in May called a special election for the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th congressional districts after a U.S. Supreme Court order allowed the state to use a 2023 Legislature-passed congressional map, instead of a court-ordered one. The 2023 map was previously struck down as racially discriminatory, and the court-ordered map, used in 2024, led to the election of two Black representatives – a first in Alabama’s history. 

Before the 2023 map was in place, no Republican was challenging Sewell. The winner of the Aug. 11 primary will face Sewell on Nov. 4. 

A spokesman for Sewell said Wednesday evening that the congresswoman did not have a comment on the Republican primary.

The candidates

Akin, 44, said in a phone interview Tuesday that she has helped people throughout her career in education, and running for office felt like the next step for her. 

“I think when many people look at the seventh district, they see challenges, but I see real possibility,” Akin said. “Not just real possibility, opportunity, but really great people doing incredible things that just need someone to see them and help remove barriers, so they can do what they do and do it well.”

Supreme Court allows Alabama to use 2023 congressional map in August special primary

According to the Congressional District Health Dashboard, which uses data from various government and educational resources to measure congressional districts on 40 metrics, about 28.1% of children in the 7th congressional district lived in poverty in 2024. As an educator, Akin said she wants to improve education in the district in order to create opportunities. 

“You can’t create opportunity without education. This is why I love education, because education opens the door for everything,” she said. 

She said she also wants to address affordability and crime within the district.

“I feel like that if we can get those three things right, there are a lot of other problems that are going to get smaller,” she said. “You can’t solve affordability if you don’t have opportunity.”

She said that although the district is one of the largest in area in the state, she will do her best to represent all the people within it by approaching each issue with questions.

“I’ve worked across the state with all different kinds of people in all different kinds of situations, and that is the nature of my career, it hasn’t been partisan politics,” she said. “There are different needs in Jefferson County than there are in Monroe County, and that is realistic. Still, there are three common things: affordability, crime, and education. That is across the district, whether you’re in Jefferson County or Monroe County.”

Perry, 63, said in a phone interview Wednesday that he is running because the district needs change.

“The district hasn’t done any better, it’s actually gotten worse. Number one in poverty and number one in crime, and last in economic growth. Our schools are failing drastically,” he said. 

Three school systems in the district are currently under state intervention. The Congressional Health Dashboard does not have metrics for overall poverty, crime or economic growth, but the 7th Congressional District had the highest unemployment rate in the state at 6.7% in 2024, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

If elected, he said he would work to increase economic opportunity, improve public safety and reduce crime.

“You can’t defund the police when cities’ crime rate is up. You’ve got to do something about that,” he said. “A lot of that comes from hopelessness within the district, but when you don’t have growth, you don’t have hope.” 

According to data from the Tuscaloosa Police Department, violent crime declined from 2024 to 2025. Statewide, according to data from the FBI, there were 360 violent crimes committed per 100,000 people in 2024.

He said that if Republicans and moderates in the district come together, the district can flip.

“It’s going to take a concerted effort from everybody concerned, both Republican and moderate Democrats, because you’re not gonna get the liberals to do it,” he said. “Moderate Democrats know that there’s a problem, and if you give them alternatives, they will vote somebody else in, because the people are tired.”

A federal court initially struck down the 2023 congressional map, saying it denied Black Alabamians the opportunity to elect a representative of their choosing. Voting in Alabama is historically racially polarized, with Black Alabamians typically voting for Democratic candidates and white Alabamians voting for Republican candidates. 

Reverting to the old map altered the 7th congressional’s district boundaries. But in both the court-ordered and 2023 maps, the district had a Black voting age population (BVAP) of greater than 50%. 

Akin said she wishes people would stop talking about the chaos that was caused by the back and forth of the special session and federal and Supreme Court orders, and start talking about the issues that impact Alabamians every day.

“I don’t want to talk about things that are out of Ammie Akin’s control. It doesn’t do any good. It’s all out of my control, but what I want to talk about is people in this district that deserve representation. They deserve to be noticed, they deserve to be heard and they deserve someone who is going to stand up for them and remove the barriers to improve quality of life,” she said. “We don’t have time to talk about this chaos.”

For 1st time in history, Alabama will have two Black U.S. House members serving together

Perry said the map change sparked an interest within the district, and that there is a possibility that a Republican could win the seat in November.

“I believe that the interest in changing the district is going to cause a major turnout in November,” he said. “I know that they’re going to throw everything they can to try to hold that seat, but it’s time to change the seat.”

The last time a Republican represented the district was James Martin, who was elected at-large in 1964 and later stepped down to run for governor against Lurleen Wallace in 1966. Sewell has won over 60% of votes in the three contested general elections since she first won in 2010 with 72% of the votes, according to election results. 

As of Wednesday evening, neither candidate had filed any fundraising or expenses with the Federal Election Commission.

How to vote

Republican voters in the 7th Congressional District can choose between Akin and Perry for the Republican nomination on Aug 11. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Polling locations can be found here. The winner will face Sewell in November in the general election.