The Republican nominee for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, Rhett Marques, pledged Thursday to reduce taxes and regulations for businesses. Speaking at an Enterprise tire store he once owned, Marques cited his support for eliminating taxes on overtime pay and indicated he would pursue similar measures if elected to Congress.
Marques' pledge came shortly after he secured the endorsement of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Rosemary Elebach, the Alabama state director of the organization, stated that Marques "was a voice for small business owners" in the Legislature.
Responding to Marques' statements, the campaign for U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, the incumbent and Marques’ opponent in the race, issued a statement Thursday. The Figures campaign asserted that Marques was misrepresenting the congressman to divert voters’ attention from his own legislative actions. The statement called on Marques to clarify why he has, according to the campaign, voted to raise taxes more than 20 times.
As a state representative over the past eight years, Marques has said he worked to ensure more money reached the hardworking people of Alabama. He expressed intentions to implement other Alabama business laws at the federal level in Congress. Marques cited his support for the state's prior exemption of hourly employees from state income taxes on overtime, a measure approved by the Alabama Legislature in 2023 as HB 217, which expired in 2025 and was not renewed. He and Elebach also referenced SB 221, a bill that excluded credit card transaction fees from sales and use taxes, which, according to its fiscal note, reduced receipts for the Educational Trust Fund budget as well as county and municipal funds.
Marques won the Republican primary for the District 2 seat in August, having campaigned with an emphasis on his endorsement from President Donald Trump. The political landscape for the election recently shifted, as The Center for Politics from the University of Virginia moved its rating for the race toward Figures, from 'likely Republican' to 'leans Republican.'
This congressional race takes place within a district whose boundaries were recently redrawn. The Alabama Legislature approved a new map last May, replacing a 2023 map that federal courts had previously determined to be racially discriminatory against Black voters. This redrawing followed the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in *Louisiana v. Callais* in April, which weakened a section of the Voting Rights Act that had led to the earlier ruling against the state's map. The court formally overturned its prior decision concerning the Alabama map a few weeks after the *Callais* ruling.
Looking ahead to the fall election, Marques echoed concerns among Republicans about voter turnout. He noted that GOP turnout in the May 19th primary declined compared to 2022. Additionally, only 5% of eligible voters participated in the Aug. 11 special congressional primaries, which predominantly featured Republican contests. Marques emphasized the importance of voting, particularly in a state with a large veteran population, stating that participation matters for the direction of both the state and the country.
