Likewise, corn grows in Pike County just as it does in Lowndes County.

Soldiers train as hard in Fort Rucker near Enterprise as they do at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery.

And the cows graze as slowly and methodically in Dale County as they do in Elmore County.

But would a resident who lives in the heart of the Wiregrass region vote for a candidate from Montgomery, the most urban part of the district?

It's possible, but voters are more likely to cast their ballots based on political party than geography, according to Bradley Moody, a political science professor at Auburn Montgomery.

A polarized Congress intensifies that tendency, making a Republican voter from Montgomery more likely to support for a Wiregrass Republican than a Democrat from Central Alabama -- and vice versa, Moody said.

Six Republicans and three Democrats want to replace Rep. Terry Everett, who is retiring next year after eight terms. The last time the seat was open was in 1992, when Everett succeeded Rep. William "Bill" Dickinson. Dickinson died earlier this month from colon cancer at the age of 82.

The largest of Alabama's seven congressional districts, the 2nd is massive: 16 counties covering 10,608 square miles -- half in the country, half in cities, according to the most recent census figures.

Before redistricting in 2000, all of Montgomery was in the 2nd District. Today, the western part of the city lies in the 2nd District. The eastern part is in the 3rd District, represented by Republican Mike Rogers since 2003.

Montgomery, with its nearly 200,000 residents, is the district's largest city. Dothan comes in second, with a population of about 65,000. Troy and Ozark each are cities of fewer than 15,000.

"Because you have two population masses at two different ends of the district, not only is there competition between the Democrats and the Republicans, but there's also competition between Montgomery and Dothan," Moody said.

Everett is from Rehobeth, southwest of Dothan, and Rogers is from Anniston, effectively leaving Montgomery without direct representation in Congress.

And being divided could mean the city plays a far smaller role in determining who represents the 2nd District.

"It would make sense for Democrats and Republicans in Montgomery and central Alabama to get behind the same candidate if we're interested in preserving Montgomery's influence in Congress," Moody said.

On the campaign trail

Historian Wayne Flynt expects all the candidates vying to fill Everett's seat to run hard.

Flynt, who retired from teaching history at Auburn University, believes the biggest challenge will be for the female candidates, not the Democrats.

The mostly white, Republican-leaning district is more likely to vote for a conservative Democrat than a woman, Flynt said.

Two-thirds of 2nd District voters cast their ballot for George Bush in the last presidential election. A Democrat hasn't represented the district since Dickinson was first elected in 1965.

Still, even the Democrats in the race are less worried about the Republican makeup of the district than they are about the geography -- those urban and rural halves.

The nine candidates are making their way these days from Ashford to Prattville -a distance of about 140 miles - and then west to Andalusia in hopes of making that vital connection with voters.

So far, Republican David Grimes has been doing most of his campaigning between Montgomery and Houston counties because he sees the district broken into three areas, not just two. And he believes support from voters in that middle third is the key to winning.

"I think the race is going to be decided in the middle of the district," said Grimes, a state representative from Montgomery.

The area is primarily rural, which suits Grimes who says he learned how to count by counting onions on a farm and identifies with those who make their living off the land.

Though born in Detroit, Grimes grew up in Phenix City and graduated from Troy State University.

"Troy is more of a home to me than anywhere else," Grimes said. "Troy is just a comfort zone for me."

Bobby Bright kicked off his campaign in Ozark, near where he grew up on a farm. And instead of Montgomery, where he recently won his third term as mayor, Bright boasted about his "Wiregrass values" at the announcement ceremony.

"I love the Wiregrass. It has made me who I am, and I'm going to continue to claim the Wiregrass as my roots," Bright told supporters in February. "It's my heart."

The 3rd District, though, was Bright's home until shortly before he announced his candidacy in February. He and his wife, Lynn, moved from an eastern development called Wynlakes to a loft downtown -- just blocks inside the 2nd District boundary line.

Bright dismisses the suggestion that he has to reconnect with the Wiregrass because he insists he never disassociated himself from the region. His campaign signs that read "Wiregrass values" simply remind the region's voters of his background.

Cheryl Sabel grew up in Birmingham, far from the Wiregrass region, and has lived the last 25 years in Montgomery. But the Democrat doesn't see the district as split -- she just sees it as huge.

Sabel, president of the Alabama chapter of the National Organization for Women, has been most struck by how rural and poor much of the district is. Figures from the 2000 census show 17 percent of the population is considered impoverished. She believes bringing technology to the district's poorer counties would be crucial to training residents, who could then use the training in the pursuit of higher-paying jobs.

Cendie Crawley is a semi-retired dentist who practices in Georgia and lives in Troy, where she grew up.

For Crawley, also a Democrat, it's not the demographics that make it challenging to reach 2nd District voters - it's fund-raising.

Republican Craig Schmidtke clearly sees the district as two halves and quickly learned he would have to bring them together to overcome the inclination by voters to support a candidate from a particular geographic region.

Schmidtke, an oral surgeon in Dothan, is trying to capitalize on his status as political newcomer as is fellow Republican David Woods, a Dothan native and Montgomery television station executive.

"I don't think (voters) see me in the same light as the folks that might be in the Legislature," Schmidtke said of his challengers who are state lawmakers. "I think they see me as a businessman who would ultimately represent all of their interests."

John W. Martin, also a Republican from Dothan, believes candidates and voters who are focusing on geography show a lack of foresight.

"That's thinking inside the box," said Martin, who quit his federal job at Fort Rucker to make his bid. "What you're doing is you're thinking about this as a local election. It's not. It's a national election. The person who goes to this job is going to Washington to represent us to the nation."

Harri Anne Smith, a Republican from Slocomb, views the areas of the district not as factions but as geographically separated parts with two main issues in common -- agriculture and the military.

Whatever gaps may exist, Smith isn't worried about bridging them.

"That's what the campaign is all about," said Smith, a state senator. "You get out there and let people know who you are."

Jay Love, a state representative from Montgomery, is reaching out to all voters in the district. He isn't putting any credence into early predictions by political experts that there would be a strong Wiregrass candidate and a strong candidate from the northern half.

"I'm not going to write off any section of the district as an area that won't support me," Love said.

The district's changing face

When Everett was elected in 1992, the 2nd district covered the southeast corner of the state.

The boundary line cut neatly around the Montgomery, Barbour and Bullock county lines in the north and bound together 13 counties mostly in the Wiregrass region, named for the long, wiry grass that once grew wild there.

Later that year, the district lines were redrawn. Montgomery became divided. A decade later, the boundaries were redrawn again. Montgomery was still divided, but its halves were flip-flopped.

"It's a very fluid district -- and all of the congressional districts are," said Mike Lewis, Everett's press secretary.

State legislatures must review congressional district lines every 10 years and changes are based on census information, specifically population and race.

Alabama had its fewest number of congressional districts in 1822, the year boundaries were first drawn. They were simply called the Northern, Middle and Southern districts. The total jumped to 10 in the early 1900s and stands at seven today.

While the boundaries of the 2nd district have changed since Everett took office, the face of the constituency hasn't.

"The district was conservative and mostly Republican when I ran in 1992 and that has not changed despite the last redistricting in 2000," Everett said in a statement.

There has been change in the district -- and not all of it for the good. Everett points to the loss of jobs because of the North American Free Trade Agreement, a pact with Mexico and Canada.

"With the unfortunate passage of NAFTA, thousands of lower-paying textile jobs have left the state for Latin America and Asia," Everett said. "Many of them were in towns from Geneva to Tallassee."

Everett has tried to counteract the effects of NAFTA by recruiting more skilled aviation and automobile manufacturing jobs. The military and farming, though, still reign as the district's economic engines.

"We are still focused on growing jobs," he said, "and promoting our defense and agriculture industries."

District: 9 in race
to fill Everett's seat

From Page 1A

"Because you have two population masses at two different ends of the district, not only is there competition between the Democrats and the Republicans, but there's also competition between Montgomery and Dothan," Moody said.

Everett is from Rehobeth, southwest of Dothan, and Rogers is from Anniston, effectively leaving Montgomery without direct representation in Congress.

And being divided could mean the city plays a far smaller role in determining who represents the 2nd District.

"It would make sense for Democrats and Republicans in Montgomery and central Alabama to get behind the same candidate if we're interested in preserving Montgomery's influence in Congress," Moody said.

On the campaign trail

Historian Wayne Flynt expects all the candidates vying to fill Everett's seat to run hard.

Flynt, who retired from teaching history at Auburn University, believes the biggest challenge will be for the female candidates, not the Democrats.

The mostly white, Republican-leaning district is more likely to vote for a conservative Democrat than a woman, Flynt said.

Two-thirds of 2nd District voters cast their ballot for George Bush in the last presidential election. A Democrat hasn't represented the district since Dickinson was first elected in 1965.

Still, even the Democrats in the race are less worried about the Republican makeup of the district than they are about the geography -- those urban and rural halves.

The nine candidates are making their way these days from Ashford to Prattville -- a distance of about 140 miles -- and then south to Andalusia in hopes of making that vital connection with voters.

So far, Republican David Grimes has been doing most of his campaigning between Montgomery and Houston counties because he sees the district broken into three areas, not just two. And he believes support from voters in that middle third is the key to winning.

"I think the race is going to be decided in the middle of the district," said Grimes, a state representative from Montgomery.

The area is primarily rural, which suits Grimes who says he learned how to count by counting onions on a farm and identifies with those who make their living off the land.

Though born in Detroit, Grimes grew up in Phenix City and graduated from Troy State University.

"Troy is more of a home to me than anywhere else," Grimes said. "Troy is just a comfort zone for me."

Bobby Bright kicked off his campaign in Ozark, near where he grew up on a farm. And instead of Montgomery, where he recently won his third term as mayor, Bright boasted about his "Wiregrass values" at the announcement ceremony.

"I love the Wiregrass. It has made me who I am, and I'm going to continue to claim the Wiregrass as my roots," Bright told supporters in February. "It's my heart."

The 3rd District, though, was Bright's home until shortly before he announced his candidacy in February. He and his wife, Lynn, moved from an eastern development called Wynlakes to a loft downtown -- just blocks inside the 2nd District boundary line.

Bright dismisses the suggestion that he has to reconnect with the Wiregrass because he insists he never disassociated himself from the region. His campaign signs that read "Wiregrass values" simply remind the region's voters of his background.

Cheryl Sabel grew up in Birmingham, far from the Wiregrass region, and has lived the last 25 years in Montgomery. But the Democrat doesn't see the district as split -- she just sees it as huge.

Sabel, president of the Alabama chapter of the National Organization for Women, has been most struck by how rural and poor much of the district is. Figures from the 2000 census show 17 percent of the population is considered impoverished. She believes bringing technology to the district's poorer counties would be crucial to training residents, who could then use the training in the pursuit of higher-paying jobs.

Cendie Crawley is a semi-retired dentist who practices in Georgia and lives in Troy, where she grew up.

For Crawley, also a Democrat, it's not the demographics that make it challenging to reach 2nd District voters -- it's fundraising.

Republican Craig Schmidtke clearly sees the district as two halves and quickly learned he would have to bring them together to overcome the inclination by voters to support a candidate from a particular geographic region.

Schmidtke, an oral surgeon in Dothan, is trying to capitalize on his status as political newcomer as is fellow Republican David Woods, a Dothan native and Montgomery television station executive.

"I don't think (voters) see me in the same light as the folks that might be in the Legislature," Schmidtke said of his challengers who are state lawmakers. "I think they see me as a businessman who would ultimately represent all of their interests."

John W. Martin, also a Republican from Dothan, believes candidates and voters who are focusing on geography show a lack of foresight.

"That's thinking inside the box," said Martin, who quit his federal job at Fort Rucker to make his bid. "What you're doing is you're thinking about this as a local election. It's not. It's a national election. The person who goes to this job is going to Washington to represent us to the nation."

Harri Anne Smith, a Republican from Slocomb, views the areas of the district not as factions but as geographically separated parts with two main issues in common -- agriculture and the military.

Whatever gaps may exist, Smith isn't worried about bridging them.

"That's what the campaign is all about," said Smith, a state senator. "You get out there and let people know who you are."

Jay Love, a state representative from Montgomery, is reaching out to all voters in the district. He isn't putting any credence into early predictions by political experts that there would be a strong Wiregrass candidate and a strong candidate from the northern half.

"I'm not going to write off any section of the district as an area that won't support me," Love said.

District's changing face

When Everett was elected in 1992, the 2nd district covered the southeast corner of the state.

The boundary line cut neatly around the Montgomery, Barbour and Bullock county lines in the north and bound together 13 counties mostly in the Wiregrass region, named for the long, wiry grass that once grew wild there.

Later that year, the district lines were redrawn. Montgomery became divided. A decade later, the boundaries were redrawn again. Montgomery was still divided, but its halves were flip-flopped.

"It's a very fluid district -- and all of the congressional districts are," said Mike Lewis, Everett's press secretary.

State legislatures must review congressional district lines every 10 years and changes are based on census information, specifically population and race.

Alabama had its fewest number of congressional districts in 1822, the year boundaries were first drawn. They were simply called the Northern, Middle and Southern districts. The total jumped to 10 in the early 1900s and stands at seven today.

While the boundaries of the 2nd district have changed since Everett took office, the face of the constituency hasn't.

"The district was conservative and mostly Republican when I ran in 1992 and that has not changed despite the last redistricting," Everett said in a statement.

There has been change in the district -- and not all of it for the good. Everett points to the loss of jobs because of the North American Free Trade Agreement, a pact with Mexico and Canada.

"With the unfortunate passage of NAFTA, thousands of lower-paying textile jobs have left the state for Latin America and Asia," Everett said. "Many of them were in towns from Geneva to Tallassee."

Everett has tried to counteract the effects of NAFTA by recruiting more skilled aviation and automobile manufacturing jobs. The military and farming, though, still reign as the district's economic engines.

"We are still focused on growing jobs," he said, "and promoting our defense and agriculture industries."