By Barnett Wright
The Birmingham Times
Incumbent Birmingham Mayor William Bell will face 11 challengers in the Aug. 22 city elections. Bell and nearly a dozen other hopefuls for mayor were among a total of 87 candidates who qualified by the 5 p.m. Friday, July 7, deadline to run for mayor, city council and school board in one of the most crowded fields in recent memory.
Along with 12 candidates for mayor, there are 43 for Birmingham City Council and 32 for Birmingham school board.
In the city council races, Kim Rafferty in District 2 faces the most challengers (seven) while Lashunda Scales in District 1 is the only incumbent with one challenger, Sherman Collins, who is not running for re-election on the school board.
Incumbents Scales, Rafferty, Valerie Abbott (District 3), William Parker (District 4), Council President Johnathan Austin (District 5), Sheila Tyson (District 6), Steven Hoyt (District 7) and Jay Roberson (District 8) are all running for re-election.
Marcus Lundy (District 9) is not running for a second term but eight candidates have qualified for the seat including former Birmingham City Council president Roderick Royal.
On the school board, a majority of members will not run again.
Collins, Brian Giattina, Lyord Watson, Randall Woodfin and April Williams will not seek re-election. Collins is running for the District 1 seat on the City Council and Woodfin is running for mayor.
Runoff elections will be held October 4, 2017. Elected officials began their terms of office on October 24.
Here are candidates for mayor, city council and school board.
Mayor
Patricia Bell
William Bell Sr. (I)
Ronaldo Davis
Ervin Hill II
Angela-Gertrudis Hunter
Carl Jackson
Lanny Jackson
Donald Lomax
Frank Matthews
Brother Sims (Pastor Fernandez Sims)
Randall Woodfin
Chris Woods
City Council
District 1
Sherman Collins
Lashunda Scales (I)
District 2
Lawrence Conaway
Kimberly Jeanty
Stephen L. Murphy
Kimberly Rafferty (I)
Jordan Thompson
Deanna Reed
Thomas Williams
Tyrone Williams
District 3
Valerie Abbott (I)
Rowan Henderson
Ryan Jones
District 4
Mary Lamay
William Parker (I)
Qunelius Pettway
Sergio Williams
District 5
Johnathan Austin (I)
Dorothea Crosby
Christopher Davis
Darrell O’Quinn
Erica Robbins
Jeremy Schatz
Robert Walker
District 6
Keith Mims
Shelia Tyson (I)
Keith Williams
District 7
Hosea Lewis
Lonnie Malone
James (Jay) Roberson (I)
Jeffrey Rowser
District 8
Steven Hoyt (I)
Lynette Peters
Gerri Robinson
Adlai Trone
District 9
Angene Coleman
Eric Hall
John Hilliard
Wendell Major
Roderick Royal
David Russell
Reginald Swanson
James Williams Jr.
Board of Education
District 1
Bennie Holmes
Douglas Ragland
Cedric Small
Jerry Tate
Keith Rice
District 2
Brandon McCray
Teresa Michal
District 3
Mary Boehm
Larry Contri
District 4
Amber Courtney
Daagye Hendricks (I)
Edward Maddox
District 5
Buford Burks
Eloise Crenshaw
David McKinney
Michael Milsap
Aaisha Muhammad
Martha McDowell
Andrea Mitchell
Angela Scoggins-Watson
District 6
LaVon Beard
Cheri Gardner (I)
Ervin Hill
District 7
Wardine Alexander (I)
Patricia McAdory
Walter Wilson
District 8
Patricia Henderson
Donald Tyrone Silmon
Sonja Smith
Antwon Womack
District 9
Sandra Brown (I)
Lawrence Jackson
Source: Birmingham City Clerk’s office. I – Incumbent.
