One Birmingham City Council Seat Goes to a Runoff; Two Incumbents Returned to the Council
By Robert Carter and Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
One Birmingham City Council seat will be up for a runoff after none of the candidates won more than 50 percent of the votes in Tuesday’s balloting.
Wardine Towers Alexander will face Ray Brooks on Nov. 19 in a runoff for the council District 7 seat. Alexander won 42.41% of the vote to challenger Ray Brooks’ 30.88%.
Two other races were decided Tuesday. Crystal Smitherman will return as council District 6 councilor, having garnered 51.50% of the vote in a seven-candidate field. In the District 1 race, Clinton Woods will return to the council, with 71.27% of the vote in his district.
The three propositions to renew separate ad valorem taxes all passed by wide margins, with those voting yes in each race amounting to about 90%.
Reporting of full results was delayed until Wednesday because of an error in the handling of electronic machine memory cards at three different precincts.
The cards from the Martha Gaskins School, Robinson Elementary School and Five Points West precincts were sealed inside boxes that contained the paper ballots filled out by voters. Officials with the Birmingham City Clerk’s office had to get a court order Wednesday morning to allow them to open the box and add those votes to the total.
With almost 99 percent of the vote counted, here are vote totals and percentages.
City Council D1
Sherman Collins Jr. 670 27.07
Haki Jamaal Muhammad 41 1.66
Clinton Woods 1,764 71.27
City Council D6
Willine Body 50 2.00
Carlos Chaverst 349 13.99
LaTanya Millhouse 265 10.60
Clarence Muhammad 127 5.08
Crystal Smitherman 1,287 51.50
Keith O. Williams 41 1.64
Onoyemi “Oni” Williams 380 15.21
City Council D7
Wardine Towers Alexander 1,159 42.41
Ray Brooks 844 30.88
Lonnie Franklin Malone 730 26.71
School Taxes
Proposition 1
Yes 14,144 90.02
No 1,568 9.98
Proposition 2
Yes 14,127 90.03
No 1,564 9.97
Proposition 3
Yes 13,992 89.19
No 1,696 10.81
Hungary’s oldest library is fighting to save 100,000 books from a beetle infestation
Restoration workers are removing about 100,000 handbound books from their shelves and carefully placing them in crates, the start of a disinfection process that aims to kill the tiny beetles.
A military exercise drawing together 19 nations and 35,000 forces begins in Australia
The largest-ever war fighting drills in Australia is underway and expected to attract China's attention. Talisman Sabre began in 2005 as a joint exercise between the U.S. and Australia.
Trump marks anniversary of assassination attempt at the FIFA Club World Cup final
The president joined the players on the field after the match to present PSG players with their runner-up medals and hand Chelsea their championship trophy.
Wildfire destroys a historic Grand Canyon lodge and other structures
A park official said the visitor center, the gas station, a waste water treatment plant, an administrative building and some employee housing were among the 50 to 80 structures lost.
Jannik Sinner wins Wimbledon, Italy’s first singles champion
Italy's Jannik Sinner defeated defending champion Carlos Alcaraz to win his first Wimbledon title. Sinner is the first Italian to win the tournament.
Senate committee details failures by Secret Service in preventing Trump shooting
The Senate Homeland Security Committee said the Secret Service's "lack of structured communication was likely the greatest contributor to the failures" at the Pennsylvania rally last summer.
