The first public forum of candidates for mayor of Mobile will still be held this Wednesday at the West Mobile Republican Women’s Club, but the cast of candidates has changed. It will be County Commissioner Connie Hudson and former County Commissioner Stephen Nodine.
The club previously announced that Hudson and former Judge Spiro Cheriogotis would participate, but Cheriogotis canceled, apparently due to a schedule conflict.
Then, Nodine received clearance to run from the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles. They held that his previous convictions were not “crimes of moral turpitude” and did not impair his right to vote or run.
Nodine said Monday night that he has made arrangements with the sponsoring group to be in the forum Wednesday.
It starts at 12:30 p.m. at Woodridge Baptist Church, 2700 Schillinger Road S. in West Mobile. The public is invited. There is no cost, no ticke and no RSVP. A complimentary light lunch is served. Dress is business casual.
Hudson and Nodine served on the Mobile City Council at the same time. While Hudson was still on the City Council, Nodine was elected to the Mobile County Commission. Hudson was later elected to the Mobile County Commission, where she has served until now.
Nodine had pleaded guilty to lesser charges while being cleared in the murder of Angel Downs in Baldwin County.
Other potential candidates for mayor of Mobile include:
Former Mobile Police chief Paul Prine
State Rep. Barbara Drummond (D-Mobile)
State Sen. Vivian Figures (D-Mobile)
Former Mobile public safety director Lawerence Battiste
The deadline to qualify for mayor or for a city council seat is June 10. The Mobile city election is Tuesday, August 26. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes (50% plus one), the top two finishers will compete in a runoff in September.
In Mobile and almost all Alabama municipalities, candidates do not run with a party designation. All run as independents in a general election. There are no party primaries.
The mayor’s office in Mobile is an open seat. Mayor Sandy Stimpson had announced that he would not run for another term.
Last week, the Mobile City Council voted unanimously to raise the pay of the next mayor from $125,000 a year to $195,000, an increase of $70,000 a year. Stimpson will not receive that increase.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler writes about Alabama’s people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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