Alexander Retains Seat in Birmingham City Council District 7 Runoff
By Sam Prickett
Despite strong opposition from challenger Ray Brooks, incumbent District 7 City Councilor Wardine Alexander appears to have retained her seat on the Birmingham City Council.
Alexander secured 869 votes compared to Brooks’ 751 votes, or 53.6% and 47.4% of the vote, respectively. That vote count does not include provisional ballots, which have yet to be tallied. Turnout in Tuesday’s election was 9.36%, according to the city clerk’s office.
The runoff came after neither candidate took a majority in the October vote. At that time, Lonnie Malone, a former applicant for the District 7 seat, received 26.7% of the vote, compared to Alexander’s 42.41% and Brooks’ 30.88%.
Alexander originally was appointed to the council in October 2018 after the sudden resignation of Jay Roberson. Before that, Alexander had served on Birmingham’s Board of Education. She was appointed in 2013 and served as the board’s president from 2015 until 2017, when she lost her re-election bid by coming third in a field of three candidates. She was appointed to the Birmingham Public Library’s Board of Trustees in April 2018, a seat she held until her council appointment.
Alexander has served as the council’s president pro tempore since Oct. 22, after the council elected her to succeed current Council President William Parker.
Brooks served as Birmingham fire chief from 1997 until 2002, when he moved to Compton, California, to be fire chief, a position he held from 2002 until 2004. Upon moving back to Birmingham, Brooks ran for mayor in 2007, receiving less than 1% of the vote, and applied unsuccessfully in 2009 and 2018 for District 7’s city council seat.
Colombia’s lone Amazon port faces drying river and rising tensions with Peru
Colombia's only Amazon port town could soon be cut off from the river that keeps it alive. As drought and a shifting river spark a tense border dispute with Peru, locals are scrambling to adapt—and politicians are raising flags, literally.
Sunday Puzzle: Common denominator
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with Weekend Edition puzzlemaster Will Shortz along with listener Cynthia Rose of Littleton, Colorado.
South Korea says it has reached a deal with the US for the release of workers in a Georgia plant
More than 300 South Korean workers were detained in an immigration raid on Thursday. Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said South Korea plans to send a charter plane to bring the workers home.
The silent killer increases your risk of stroke and dementia. Here’s how to control it
New recommendations for early treatment for hypertension to prevent strokes, heart attacks and dementia come as an experimental medication is shown to lower blood pressure in hard to treat patients.
Are you a grandparent-to-be? Here’s some advice from those who came before you
Sept. 7 is National Grandparents Day. NPR readers shared the joys of becoming grandparents and offered some sage advice.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to resign
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed his intention on Sunday to step down following growing calls from his party to take responsibility for a historic defeat in July's parliamentary election.
