He voted six times Tuesday. Not on socialism.

Every Republican present voted for it. One hundred ninety-two Democrats voted against it, including their leader Hakeem Jeffries. Eight Democrats crossed over and voted for it. Two more voted present, which is a way of standing up and formally declining to answer. Shomari Figures did none of those four things. He is recorded as not voting.

WHAT THE CLERK'S OWN TALLY SHOWS

This is not our characterization. It is the roll call, published by the Clerk of the House, roll number 289, September 1, 2026.

The same record shows every other vote he cast that day.

At 2:03 in the afternoon he voted yea on a suspension motion.

At 2:12 he voted nay on ordering the previous question.

At 2:20 he voted no on House Resolution 1499, the rule that brought the socialism resolution to the floor.

At 5:47 the House voted on the socialism resolution itself. He is not recorded.

At 5:55, eight minutes later, he voted yea on a motion to recommit.

At 6:00 he voted nay on passage of a bill.

At 6:09 he voted yea on another resolution.

Seven recorded votes on one calendar day. He is on six of them. The one he is missing is the one that asked whether he condemns socialism.

HE IS NOT A MEMBER WHO MISSES VOTES

From January 2025 through July 2026, Figures missed nine roll call votes out of six hundred eleven. That is one and a half percent, and it is better than the median for members currently serving.

We say that because it matters. If this were a congressman who routinely misses votes, Tuesday would be unremarkable. It is remarkable precisely because he does not miss votes.

HE VOTED ON THE RULE

The detail that carries the most weight is the 2:20 vote.

Before the House can debate a resolution, it adopts a rule allowing the debate. Figures voted no on that rule. He was present, he was engaged with this specific resolution, and he took a position on whether the House should take it up at all.

Then the House took it up, and he was not there for it.

Whatever else can be said, he did not miss this by accident of scheduling. He handled the procedural question and left the substantive one blank.

TEN OTHER DEMOCRATS ARE ALSO NOT RECORDED

We are not going to pretend he was alone. Ten other Democrats are listed as not voting on this resolution.

The list is public: Craig of Minnesota, Frankel of Florida, Garamendi of California, Kaptur of Ohio, Lynch of Massachusetts, Moskowitz of Florida, Moulton of Massachusetts, Neal of Massachusetts, Smith of Washington, and Velazquez of New York.

Some of them may have had reasons we do not know. So may he. We are not claiming to know why any individual member was absent, and nobody should.

What we are saying is narrower and it does not depend on knowing why. Alabama's Second District sent a man to Congress. On the day Congress asked its members a plain question about socialism, this district got no answer from him.

WHAT THE OTHER SIDE WILL SAY, AND IT IS NOT NOTHING

Republicans folded a second item into this resolution. It also calls for passage of the SAVE America Act, the bill requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. Democrats broadly oppose that bill.

Four Democrats, led by Josh Gottheimer, asked the Rules Committee to strip the SAVE Act language and keep the condemnation of socialism. The committee declined, and the two questions stayed welded together in a single vote.

So the answer coming back will be that this was a trap and the vote was about voter identification, not socialism.

That answer is available to every Democrat in the House. One hundred ninety-two of them used it. They stood up, voted no, and made the argument.

It is not available to a member who is not recorded at all. You cannot object to the terms of a question you declined to answer.

THE NUMBER THAT MOVED

In November of last year the House voted on a resolution condemning socialism. Eighty-six Democrats supported it.

On Tuesday, eight did.

Eighty-six to eight, in ten months, in the same chamber. That is what changed in the Democratic Party between last fall and this one, and it happened while socialist candidates were winning Democratic primaries around the country.

SIXTY-THREE DAYS

He has been the congressman here since January of 2025.

On Tuesday the House asked a question that takes one button and four seconds. Two hundred twenty members said yes. One hundred ninety-two said no. Two said present.

This district got a blank.

Rhett Marques is the Republican nominee for this seat. He was not in that chamber Tuesday and had no vote to cast. In sixty-three days the people of this district get one, and it is the only answer to Tuesday that any of us can give.

Sixty-three days.

Wall of Shame — Today: Alfa

Today on the Wall of Shame: the Alabama Farmers Federation PAC — Alfa (Montgomery) has put $5,000 into Rep. Shomari Figures' campaign account. Alabama farm-country money, funding the congressman who then voted no on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the ag and tax provisions Alabama farmers stood to gain from. The Wall of Shame exists for one reason — so that total stops growing. https://take2back.com/wall-of-shame.html