Vivian Figures | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theAlabama Senate from the33rd district | |
| Assumed office January 28, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Michael Figures |
| Member of theMobile City Council | |
| In office January 1993 – January 1997 | |
| Succeeded by | Fred Richardson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1957-01-24)January 24, 1957 (age 68) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingShomari |
| Education | University of New Haven (BA) Faulkner University |
Vivian Davis Figures (born January 24, 1957) is an American politician who is aDemocratic member of theAlabama Senate, representing the33rd District inMobile County since she was elected on January 28, 1997, to serve the remaining term of her deceased husband, SenatorMichael Figures, who was the President pro tempore of the Alabama Senate. She was re-elected without opposition in 1998 and 2002.[1]
Figures graduated fromWilliamson High School inMobile, Alabama, and earned aBachelor of Science in management science from theUniversity of New Haven in Connecticut. She put herself through college by working atYale University and in a family owned grocery. She was attending theThomas Goode Jones School of Law inMontgomery, Alabama, when her husband's death forced her to discontinue her legal education.[2]
Figures is President/CEO of Figures Legacy Education Foundation and serves on the board of directors of the Mobile Area Education Foundation. She is a past at-large member of the Democratic National Committee. She was initiated into the Delta Theta Omega chapter ofAlpha Kappa Alpha sorority in 2002.[1]
Figures was elected to the MobileCity Council in 1993. In that capacity, she was known as a staunch community advocate. Early in her council career, she led the opposition to a proposed facility for burning petroleum-contaminated oil near downtown Mobile.[3] As a council member, Figures was also the initial proponent of naming Mobile's new minor league baseball park for home run legendHank Aaron, a Mobile native.[4][5]
Following her husband's death in 1996, Figures ran for his seat in the Alabama Senate.[6] She earned the most votes in the first round of theDemocratic Party'sprimary election, with 47 percent, but missed the majority needed to avoid arunoff election.[7] She defeatedJames Buskey in the runoff,[8] before defeating Republican Gregory Ramos to win election to the state senate,[9] and was sworn into office in January 1997.[10] In the Alabama Senate, Figures serves as the chairwoman of the Education and Mobile County Local Legislation Committees.[1] In the legislature, Figures may be best known as the perennial sponsor of a bill to ban smoking in indoor, public places statewide in Alabama. In the 2008 general session, the bill passed the Senate, was believed to have sufficient support to pass the House, and GovernorBob Riley had indicated he would sign it. The bill died when legislative filibusters prevented a final vote in the House.[11] Figures was also instrumental in the passage of economic incentives that were critical in the location of aThyssen-Krupp steel plant near Mobile.[12]
Figures was the Democratic nominee for theUnited States Senate seat that was held byRepublicanJeff Sessions in the2008 election, after winning the June 2008 Democratic primary with 64% of the vote.[13] Aaron campaigned for Figures and hosted fundraisers in several Alabama cities.[14] On November 4, she was defeated by Sessions with 37% of the vote to Sessions's 63%.[15]
In November 2012, Alabama Senate Democrats selected Figures to be their floor leader for the next two year term. She became the first woman to lead either the majority or minority party in either house of theAlabama Legislature.[16]
In April 2019, Davis Figures announced that she would run to be the chair of theAlabama Democratic Party.[17] She dropped out of the race in June.[18]
Davis Figures led the opposition to a bill restricting abortion, with a penalty of 99 years imprisonment for any doctor performing an abortion, and no exceptions for rape or incest.[19] She proposed an amendment outlawing vasectomies, arguing that "there’s no law on the books anywhere in this country that mandate[s] what a man can and can’t do with his body, yet for us there are a number of them."[20]
In April, 2020, amidst theCOVID-19 pandemic, Davis Figures expressed concerns about the following legislative session, which was to start in May, due toCOVID-19, saying “Many of our members as well as the staff have small children at home and/or elderly family members for whom they are responsible. Why would you put all those lives at risk for something that can wait?”[21]
In 2021, Davis Figures' house inToulminville, Alabama, was attacked by an unknown assailant. 23 shots were fired into her home, but there were no injuries as the house was empty at the time.[22]
Davis Figures supportedRoe v. Wade. Following its overturn in 2022, she and most of her Democratic colleagues in theAlabama Senate, particularly senatorMerika Coleman, sponsored bills designed to protect abortion, although none of them were passed.[23]
Figures has three sons. Her middle son, currentUnited States Representative forAlabama's 2nd district,Shomari Figures, worked for theObama administration and as deputy chief of staff forMerrick Garland while he wasattorney general of the United States.[24] Her youngest, Jelani, played basketball on scholarship forMorehouse College from 2007 to 2011.[25]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromAlabama (Class 2) 2008 | Vacant Title next held by Doug Jones2017 |