Southern Democrats see hope for first time in years, seek to build on discontent of midterm voters

DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) — People crowded shoulder to shoulder upstairs in a south Alabama coffee shop, in a region sometimes called the reddest in the heavily conservative state.

They were there to hear Doug Jones, the Democratic nominee for governor and the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama.

"Alabama has been under Republican control for almost two decades. We’re not getting any better,” said Jeff Scroggins, 61, a government contractor from Slocomb who was part of the crowd that came to Mural City Coffee Company and said he is voting for the Democrat.

Scroggins, who usually votes Democratic, called himself the “black sheep of the family” in supporting Jones this fall against Republican U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, but said there are more Democrats and “stubborn independents” in the state than people realize.

Jones and other Democrats running in Alabama and neighboring states are banking on it.

“People want change," Jones said after an hour of talking with people who came to see him. “That is the real key. People are not satisfied with their government of Alabama.”

Deep South Democrats, largely absent from statewide offices, are aiming for a comeback this year. They are seeking to mobilize Black voters who are angered about the Republican moves to dismantle minority congressional districts, as well as voters who are frustrated with high gas prices, the Iran war, data centers and other issues.

Jones is trying to win a rematch with Tuberville after the Republican ousted him in a 2020 Senate race. Jones would be the first Democrat since 1998 to win an Alabama governor's race.

In Mississippi, prosecutor Scott Colom is trying to unseat Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith and become the state's first newly elected U.S. senator since 1946. In Georgia, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is trying to reverse a losing streak in races for governor that began for Democrats in 2002. Elsewhere, Democrats are trying to pull off U.S. Senate upsets in Louisiana and South Carolina.

In Alabama, Jones' town halls have attracted hopeful Democrats, some independents and even a few Republicans. Their concerns mirror those of voters nationwide: the rising cost of living, worries over data centers and the affordability of healthcare, issues they say have gone unaddressed by the Republicans who control the state.

Some said state policies, including an abortion ban that makes no exemption for rape, have been too extreme. Others said some comments by Tuberville, such as calling Islam “a cult,” are embarrassing to the state.

Still, the math across the Deep South has been difficult for Democrats. Other than Jones’ victory in the special U.S. Senate election, the last Democrat holding statewide office in Alabama was defeated in 2012. Statewide Democratic candidates have hit a ceiling of around 40% of the vote in recent elections.

The results are similar in most other Deep South states. In Georgia, U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who is seeking reelection this year, offer a bright spot for Democrats.

Jones noted that Alabama saw a surge in the number of people voting in the Democratic primary. While about 58% of primary voters were Republican, the Democratic primary vote doubled since 2022. Some counties, including a tech hub in north Alabama, saw more Democratic votes than Republican.

Optimistic about their chances, Democrats are running candidates in all major state races for the first time in years.

“The numbers are there," Jones said. "It’s a question of getting those voters out.”

In nearby Troy, a crowd gathered on the campus of Troy University to hear Jones speak alongside Shomari Figures, one of Alabama's two Black U.S. House members. The district was substantially redrawn by Republicans after the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year gutted the Voting Rights Act.

Figures said there is an excitement he has not felt since Jones’ 2017 Senate victory. Figures won election two years ago after a federal court ruled that Alabama had been illegally diluting the voting power of Black Alabamians and ordered new district lines. The Supreme Court's reversal this year allowed state Republicans to reshape the district and substantially reduce the percentage of Black voters who align with Democrats.

Figures said the goal of the redraw was obvious: to reduce Black representation.

"But we are going to win it in November,” he said.

Figures has often emphasized the economic needs of the district at a time when affordability is one of the main topics of the midterms. He noted that the individual median income in Alabama is $34,000.

“Let that sink in — $34,000 before taxes, before rent, before water, before lights, before gas, before cellphone, before health insurance, before car insurance, before childcare, before food," he said.

Alabama is one of 10 states that did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, a decision that Jones and Figures said leaves thousands of working people without access to healthcare coverage.

Figures faces Trump-endorsed Republican Rhett Marques, a state lawmaker. Marques framed the race as “common sense” versus “craziness.” Both have raised about $1.3 million so far.

Colom echoes many of Jones' and Figures' arguments in his bid against Hyde-Smith.

“We’ve been gifted an opportunity,” he said, pointing to Mississippi’s large base of Black Democratic voters, Hyde-Smith’s relatively low profile in her first full Senate term and voters’ frustrations over the economy.

With the largest share of Black voters of any state, Mississippi’s general elections have been closer for years than its immediate Southern neighbors. Trump won by double digits in each of his three presidential contests, but in 2023 Republican Gov. Tate Reeves managed to win reelection by a margin of just 3 percentage points.

Colom insists he can close the gap by increasing Black turnout and peeling off enough disenchanted white voters from Republicans. It is the same kind of electoral math that propelled Ossoff and Warnock in Georgia.

“For me, it can’t be just about getting a Senate majority,” Colom said. “It’s got to be about having a party that represents rural America again, suburban America, urban America — a party that makes sure we actually deliver for voters in ways that make their lives better, and we don’t come up with excuses as to why we can’t do it.”

Alabama's Republican Party chairman, Scott Stadthagen, said Democratic priorities, in his opinion, “are far outside the views of conservative Alabamians.” He said there has been previous chatter of a Democratic resurgence, and “each election cycle, we remain the brightest red state in the decidedly conservative southeastern United States.”

Tuberville has declined Jones’ challenge to debate. Expressing confidence about November, Tuberville said he is running “against an ideology that’s not very compatible with the people of Alabama.” He will appear with Trump at a rally in Mobile next week.

“I’ve been representing Alabama for six years, and we’ll turn it over to the voters here in about six, seven weeks and see what they say," Tuberville told reporters.

As the November election draws closer, Democratic candidates are attracting impressive crowds.

To Sam Phillips, who attended the rallies in Dothan and Troy, the crowds and energy felt different from previous election years.

“It doesn’t get any redder than here, and there was a whole lot of excitement in both places," the 67-year-old said. “So I feel optimistic.”

Gwendolyn Davis, a 67-year-old retired special education teacher, left the town hall in Troy with an armful of yard signs for Figures and Jones. She said she is determined to reach people who have been sitting out elections.

"If we don’t get people out to vote, it will be kind of heartbreaking,” she said.

Barrow reported from Atlanta.

FILE - Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala., speaks alongside Doug Jones, a Democratic nominee for Governor of Alabama, at a town hall hosted by Troy University College Democrats and the Pike County Democrats, Aug. 18, 2026, in Troy, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt, File)

FILE - Attendees listen as Doug Jones, Democratic nominee for Governor of Alabama, speaks at a town hall hosted by Troy University College Democrats and the Pike County Democrats, Aug. 18, 2026, in Troy, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt, File)

FILE - Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala., speaks to the media before a town hall hosted by Troy University College Democrats and the Pike County Democrats, Aug. 18, 2026, in Troy, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt, File)

FILE - Doug Jones, Democratic nominee for Governor of Alabama, speaks to the media before a town hall hosted by Troy University College Democrats and the Pike County Democrats, Aug. 18, 2026, in Troy, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt, File)

FILE - Michael Davis, of Bellwood, Ala., picks up a sign supporting Doug Jones for governor after a town hall hosted by Troy University College Democrats and the Pike County Democrats, Aug. 18, 2026, in Troy, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt, File)

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday rejected Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week if the U.S. meets certain conditions.

Meanwhile, Iranian media outlets said the country's president has left New York after the United Nations gathering of world leaders that included Iran's indirect talks with the United States. And Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted another missile it blames on Iran -backed Houthis in neighboring Yemen.

Here is a look at the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. More coverage of the U.N. General Assembly is available here.

Iran offered this week to reopen the strait and resume talks on its nuclear program in seven days if the U.S. lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire that would include Lebanon.

But on Saturday, Trump rejected the proposal saying Iran wanted to make a deal because it was “losing so badly.”

“They want to make a deal and I think that’s fine,” Trump told reporters outside the White House before leaving for a college football game. “I’d like to make a deal, too. But that deal would not be acceptable.”

Iran effectively closed the strait after the U.S. and Israel attacked the Islamic Republic in late February, and the number of ships passing through has dropped significantly because of Iranian threats and attacks on vessels in the waterway.

Semiofficial media outlets in Iran reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian has left New York for Tehran after the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders.

Pezeshkian's speech to the gathering pushed back against Trump's latest threat to “annihilate” the Islamic Republic, but he ended by saying Tehran remains open to diplomacy.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told journalists Friday night that under Tehran's proposal, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear program in seven days if the United States lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire that would include Lebanon.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told CBS that, from his viewpoint as a physician, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has “no specific ongoing health issues” despite not being seen or heard in public since the war with the U.S. and Israel began in February.

The interview will air Sunday.

In the transcript CBS released, Pezeshkian described his most recent meeting with Khamenei as lasting over seven hours. “But, of course, he was healthy enough to be able to withstand those hours of that situation. From a medical standpoint, he’s completely healthy,” the president said. When asked whether the supreme leader’s face and legs have recovered, Pezeshkian responded, “Yes.”

Khamenei’s father and other family members were killed on the opening day of the war.

Saudi Arabia’s military spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, claimed early Saturday that a ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen was intercepted and destroyed. He said it was fired toward the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait.

The Associated Press couldn’t immediately verify that independently. There was no immediate statement of responsibility, though it can take days for the Houthis to issue one.

A regional body representing Arab Gulf states, the Gulf Cooperation Council, condemned the latest Houthi attacks as a “grave escalation and threat to regional security” and urged the international community to respond.

Iraq said it is in direct contact with the U.S. to secure exemptions from sanctions on Iranian airlines as Washington continues economic pressure on Tehran.

The Iraqi prime minister’s office said the aim is to get exemptions for certain airports, noting flights for humanitarian reasons such as medical treatment, education and religious pilgrimages.

Many pilgrims in neighboring Iran visit sites such as Karbala and Najaf.

Before rejecting Iran's proposal Saturday, Trump posted an image on his Truth Social platform of the Strait of Hormuz labeled “Trump Strait." It is not the first time he has tried to antagonize Iran in this way.

The White House on Friday said only that U.S. officials were having positive and constructive conversations with mediators on the Iran war. Earlier in the week, Iran and the U.S. participated in hours of indirect talks.

Israeli settlers have intensified efforts to seize natural springs and heritage sites in the occupied West Bank. The springs are vital for drinking water, tourism and agriculture and increasingly inaccessible to the 2.8 million Palestinians living there.

In the Jordan Valley, settlers cut a water pipe to a Palestinian village, redirecting it to a pool they named after Herod, the Roman-appointed king of Judea. Israeli rights groups say the move is part of a broader effort to claim heritage sites.

The struggle for water access highlights the ongoing contest for control of the West Bank, where Palestinians have faced shortages since 1967.

This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Palestinians cool off at the site of Solomon's Pools an ancient water reservoirs located south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian signs a book before meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at United Nations headquarters during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Yemenis wave national and Saudi flags as they celebrate the 64th anniversary of the September 26 Revolution in Taiz, Yemen, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)