Across the South, Black Democratic candidates are urging Black voters to secure representation this November after the gutting of the Voting Rights Act. Despite being outspent, candidates are contesting races once seen as unwinnable.

In Georgia, former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms remains in a tossup governor's race despite being outspent 9 to 1 by Republican Rick Jackson. In Mississippi, prosecutor Scott Colom challenges Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. In Florida, State Representative Angie Nixon became the Senate nominee. In Alabama, Representative Shomari Figures's redrawn district may still be competitive.

Primary turnout exceeded recent midterms, with Black and white voters in Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina participating at higher rates than 2022. Democrats hope enthusiasm among Black voters, the party's backbone in the South, will peak in November.

"People are like, 'No, my vote is going to matter. I'm going to stand tall,'" said the Rev. Jay Augustine of Big Bethel A.M.E. Church in Atlanta. Some races are narrowing unexpectedly, with polls showing Democrats within striking distance in conservative areas. Republicans remain confident, arguing their redistricting sought party advantage, not racial discrimination.