Uncontested, Safe and Shocking: Municipal races across the state

By Beth Clayton Alabama Political Reporter MONTGOMERY–Yesterday, voters in Mobile, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham headed to the polls to cast ballots in their municipal elections for mayor, city council and board of education. The three mayors races ranged from uncontested to safe to shocking. In Tuscaloosa, incumbent Mayor Walt Maddox headed unopposed into his third term. In Birmingham, incumbent Mayor William Bell, who was heavily favored in the five-candidate race, was declared the winner with 74 percent of the vote. In Mobile, however, incumbent Mayor Sam Jones wasn’t as fortunate. Challenger Sandy Stimpson won the race by more than 4,000 votes, with 28,934 to Jones’s 24,582. Jones called Stimpson to concede at approximately 8:00 p.m. Several of the municipal elections around the state will head into an October 8 runoff. The municipal results are below: BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL: District 1: Incumbent Lashunda Scales defeats two challengers, Pat Davis and Keith Rice, with 63.7 percent of the vote. District 2: Incumbent Kim Rafferty defeated a pool of five challengers with 37.4 percent of the vote. She will face challenger Rolanda Hollis, 19.7 percent, in a runoff election. District 3: Incumbent Valerie Abbott was unopposed for this seat. District 4: Incumbent Maxine Herring Parker defeated challenger Edward Maddox with 73.1 percent of the vote. District 5: Incumbent Jonathan Austin defeated challenger Robert Walker with 72.7 percent of the vote. District 6: Sheila Tyson received 60.0 percent of the vote, defeating six other candidates. District 7: Incumbent Jay Robertson, Jr. defeated challenger Gary Bruce Lavender with 62.7 percent of the vote. District 8: Steven Hoyt beat Gerri Robinson with 61.0 percent of the vote. District 9: Marcus Lundy beat five other candidates, receiving 29.1 percent of the vote. He will face runner-up Leroy Bandy, who received 24.4 percent of the vote, in a run off election. BIRMINGHAM BOARD OF EDUCATION: District 1: Shermann Collins defeated incumbent Tyrone Belcher, Sr. with 30.3 percent of the vote. Collins will face Douglas Lee Ragland, runner-up with 26.9 percent of the vote, in a run off. District 2: Lyord Watson defeated incumbent Virginia Volker with 61.9 percent of the vote. District 3: Incumbent Brian Giattina was unopposed for this seat. District 4: Gwen Sykes won received 41.6 percent of the vote. She will face Daagye Hendricke, who received 39.6 percent of the vote, in a run-off election. District 5: Randall Woodfin won against Martha Casey McDowell with 70.4 percent of the vote. District 6: Cheri Gardner defeated four other candidates with 35.2 percent of the votes. She will face runner-up Gwendolyn Thomas Bell, who received 25.7 percent of the vote, in a run off election. District 7: Incumbent Wardine Alexander defeated Lawrence Jackson and Darius Moore with 55.2 percent of the vote. District 8: Incumbent April Myers Williams defeated Patricia Bozeman-Henderson and Antwon B. Womack with 53.1 percent of the vote. District 9: Sandra Brown defeated Emanuel Ford with 70.4 percent of the vote. TUSCALOOSA CITY COUNCIL District 1: Burrell G. Odom will face incumbent Bobby Earl Howard in a run off election. Odom received 36.9 percent of the vote, and Howard received 32.9 percent. District 2: Incumbent Harrison “Mailman” Taylor was uncontested for this seat. District 3: Incumbent Cynthia Lee Almond was uncontested for this seat. District 4: Matt Calderone was uncontested for this seat. District 5: Incumbent Kip Tyner was uncontested for this seat. District 6: Incumbent Bob Lundell will face Eddie Pugh in a run off election. Pugh received 44.9 percent of the vote, defeating Lundell with 40.7 percent. District 7: Sonya McKinstry defeated incumbent William Tinker with 55.2 percent of the vote. TUSCALOOSA BOARD OF EDUCATION: CHAIR: Lee Garrison defeated Denise Hills by 203 votes. District 1: Incumbent James Minyard won with 69.7 percent of the vote. District 2: Incumbent Earnestine Tucker was uncontested for this seat. District 3: Norman Crow was uncontested for this seat. District 4: Cason Kirby defeated incumbent Kelly Horowitz with 55.0 percent of the vote. District 5: Incumbent Harry Lee defeated challenger Joe Gattozzi with 63.5 percent of the vote. District 6: Incumbent Marvin Lucas defeated challenger John Lollar with 51.9 percent of the vote. District 7: Incumbent Erskine Simmons defeated challenger Renwick Jones with 64.1 percent of the vote. MOBILE CITY COUNCIL District 2: Levon Manzie, who won almost 40 percent of the vote, will face Greg Vaughan in a run off election. Vaughan received 26.4 percent of the vote. District 3: CJ Small defeated challenger Kimberly Evans with 75 percent of the vote. District 4: Incumbent John Williams defeated three challengers and won 59 percent of the vote. Run off elections will be held October 8 in Birmingham, Mobile and Tuscaloosa.