No one gets a free pass into office this year in Birmingham. The 19 races on the ballot for the upcoming city elections are all contested, with 88 candidates signing up Friday before the 5 p.m. deadline.
The largest number of candidates want the job as mayor. A dozen people are running, including incumbent William Bell. The District 2 City Council race in east Birmingham and the District 5 City Council race in central Birmingham are also popular with eight candidates each. Kimberly Rafferty is the current District 2 councilwoman, and Johnathan Austin is the current District 5 councilman.
Council incumbents Lashunda Scales, Kim Rafferty, Valerie Abbott, William Parker, Johnathan Austin, Sheila Tyson, Steven Hoyt and Jay Roberson are all running for re-election. Only one city council member – Marcus Lundy – is not running.
Birmingham’s school board could have a much different look after the election on Aug. 22. Three school board members – April Williams, Lyord Watson and Brian Giattina are not running for re-election. Another school board member – Randall Woodfin — is running for mayor, and board member Sherman Collins is running for city council in District 1.
Board members Wardine Alexander, Sandra Brown, Cheri Gardner, and Daagye Hendricks are seeking re-election.
Here’s the list of candidates:
Mayor
Christopher Wyatt Woods
Lanny Edward Jackson
Ronaldo Merrell Davis
Randall Lee Woodfin
William Bell Sr. (I)
Carl Jackson
Frank James Matthews
Ervin Hill II
Donald T. Lomax
Patricia Bell
Brother Fernandez Sims
Trudy Hunter
Council District 1
Lashunda Scales (I)
Sherman Collins
School Board District 1
Bennie M. Holmes
Cedric Small
Douglas Ragland
Jerry Tate
Keith Rice
Council District 2
Kimberly Rafferty (I)
Thomas Hunter Molton Williams
Tyrone Williams
Lawrence Conway
Kimberly Jeanty
Stephen L. Murphy
Deanna Reed
Jordan Thompson
School Board District 2
Teresa Michal
Brandon McCray
Council District 3
Joseph Ryan Jones
Valerie Abbott (I)
Rowan Henderson
School Board District 3
Mary Drennen Boehm
Larry Contri
Council District 4
Qunelius Pettway
William Parker (I)
Sergio Williams
Mary Jean Lamay
School Board District 4
Amber Marie Courtney
Edward Maddox
Daagye Hendricks (I)
Council District 5
Dorothea Crosby
Darrell O’Quinn
David Schatz
Robert Walker
Christopher Davis
Johnathan Austin (I)
Erica Robbins
School Board District 5
Michael Millsap Jr.
Aaisha Muhammad
David McKinney
Buford Burkes
Angela Scoggins-Watson
Andrea Mitchell
Martha McDowell
Eloise Manning Crenshaw
Council District 6
Sheila Tyson (I)
Keith Williams
Keith Mims
School Board District 6
Cheri Adams Gardner (I)
Ervin Hill
Lavon Beard
Council District 7
Lonnie Malone
James (Jay) Roberson (I)
Jeffery Rowser
Hosea Lewis
Titus Battle
School Board District 7
Patricia McAdory
Wardine Alexander (I)
Walter Wilson
Council District 8
Lynette Peters
Steven Hoyt (I)
Adlai Trone
Gerri Robinson
School Board District 8
Antwon Womack
Tyrone Silmon
Sonja Smith
Patricia Henderson
Council District 9
Reginald Swanson
David Russell
Roderick Van Royal
Wendell Warren Major
John Randall Hilliard
Angene Coleman
Eric Hall
James Williams Jr.
School Board District 9
Sandra Kelley Brown (I)
Lawrence Jackson