Vivian Davis Figures

Vivian Davis Figures (born January 24, 1957) is an American politician who is a Democratic member of the Alabama Senate, representing the 33rd District in Mobile County since she was elected on January 28, 1997, to serve the remaining term of her late husband, Senator Michael Figures, who was the President pro tempore of the Alabama Senate. She was re-elected without opposition in 1998 and 2002.[1]

Vivian Figures
Member of the Alabama Senate
from the 33rd district
Assumed office
January 28, 1997
Preceded byMichael Figures
Member of the Mobile City Council
In office
January 1993 – January 1997
Succeeded byFred Richardson
Personal details
Born (1957-01-24) January 24, 1957
Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1982; died 1996)​
Children3
EducationUniversity of New Haven (BA)
Faulkner University

Early life and career

Figures graduated from Williamson High School in Mobile, Alabama, and earned a Bachelor of Science in management science from the University of New Haven in Connecticut. She put herself through college by working at Yale University and in a family owned grocery. She was attending the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama, when her husband's death forced her to discontinue her legal education.[2] Figures has three sons. Her youngest, Jelani, played basketball on scholarship for Morehouse College from 2007 to 2011.[3]

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 of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority in 2002.[1]

Political career

Figures was elected to the Mobile City 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.[4] As a council member, Figures was also the initial proponent of naming Mobile's new minor league baseball park for home run legend Hank Aaron, a Mobile native.[5][6]

Following her husband's death in 1996, Figures ran for his seat in the Alabama Senate.[7] She earned the most votes in the first round of the Democratic Party's primary election, with 47 percent, but missed the majority needed to avoid a runoff election.[8] She defeated James Buskey in the runoff,[9] before defeating Republican Gregory Ramos to win election to the state senate,[10] and was sworn into office in January 1997.[11] 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 Governor Bob Riley had indicated he would sign it. The bill died when legislative filibusters prevented a final vote in the House.[12] Figures was also instrumental in the passage of economic incentives that were critical in the location of a Thyssen-Krupp steel plant near Mobile.[13]

Figures was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate seat that was held by Republican Jeff Sessions in the 2008 election, after winning the June 2008 Democratic primary with 64% of the vote.[14] Aaron campaigned for Figures and hosted fundraisers in several Alabama cities.[15] On November 4, she was defeated by Sessions with 37% of the vote to Sessions's 63%.[16]

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 the Alabama Legislature.[17]

In April 2019, Davis Figures announced that she would run to be the chair of the Alabama Democratic Party.[18] She dropped out of the race in June.[19]

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.[20] 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."[21]

In 2021, Davis Figures' house in Toulminville, 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]

References
  1. "Alabama State Senate: Vivian Davis Figures". Archived from the original on May 16, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2007.
  2. "Vivian Figures for Senate: Her Story".
  3. "Colleges Sign Up Rattlers," Mobile Press-Register, May 12, 2007, p. C6
  4. "Dirt-burners Told Plant Won't Be OK'd," Mobile Press-Register, September 7, 1995, p. A1
  5. "Bears' Stadium Officially Named for Hank Aaron," Mobile Press-Register, August 8, 1996, p. A5
  6. "20 Apr 1997, 77 - Daily News at". Newspapers.com. April 20, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  7. "25 Sep 1996, Page 9 - The Anniston Star at". Newspapers.com. September 25, 1996. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  8. "18 Dec 1996, Page 11 - The Anniston Star at". Newspapers.com. December 18, 1996. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  9. "8 Jan 1997, Page 13 - The Anniston Star at". Newspapers.com. January 8, 1997. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  10. "29 Jan 1997, Page 14 - The Anniston Star at". Newspapers.com. January 29, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  11. "5 Feb 1997, 8 - The Montgomery Advertiser at". Newspapers.com. February 5, 1997. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  12. "Ban on Smoking Loses Steam," Mobile Press-Register, May 20, 2008, p. A2
  13. "Economic Incentives Boost Passes," Mobile Press-Register, March 1, 2007, p. A4
  14. "Figures, Sessions fight for Senate," Mobile Press-Register, June 4, 2008, p. A1
  15. "Aaron Helps Figures Swing for Fences," The Birmingham News, June 27, 2008, p. B1
  16. CNN Election center , retrieved November 11, 2008
  17. "18 Nov 2012, Page 9 - The Anniston Star at". Newspapers.com. November 18, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  18. "Sen. Vivian Figures seeks to lead Alabama Democratic Party". AL.com. April 25, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  19. "Figures drops out of race for Alabama Democratic chair". AL.com. June 14, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  20. "Figures spoke for Senate minority on abortion issue". AL.com. October 31, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  21. "In Alabama Senate's restrictive abortion vote, just three women had a voice". The Washington Post. May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  22. Meyers, Shelby (July 1, 2021). "MPD: Alabama senator's Toulminville house riddled with bullets". Fox 10 News.
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