Tuscaloosa city voters go to the polls on March 4 to elect their mayor, city council members and city board of education members. The deadline to run for those offices has passed and the fields of candidates are now set.
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox is running for a sixth term with one challenger, political newcomer Denson Ferrell II.
Three city council members are running unopposed: Norman Crow in District 3, Lee Busby in District 4 and Kip D. Tyner in District 5, the city council president.
Four council members face opposition:
In City Council District 1, incumbent Mathew Wilson is challenged by Que Chandler and Joe Eatmon;
In Council District 2, incumbent Raevan Howard is challenged by Dennis "Quick" Collins and Ashley R. Wheat;
In Council District 6, incumbent John Faile is challenged by Eric Gaines and Lisa M. Young;
In Council District 7, incumbent Cassius Lanier is challenged by Oliver "Maurice" Sealey.
There are eight Tuscaloosa city school board seats up for election. Incumbent District 4 representative Patrick Hamner did not qualify to run. Clint Mountain, attorney and managing partner with the Tuscaloosa law firm of Mountain & Mountain, is unopposed for that position. Mountain is the son of former Tuscaloosa City Commissioner Delaine Mountain, who served as city prosecutor and was elected Public Safety Commissioner.
In school board District 1, incumbent Karen Thompson-Jackson is challenged by Tony V. Humphries.
All other school board incumbents are running unopposed: Eric M. Wilson, Chair; Kendra Williams, District 2; Lesley Powell, District 3; Erica Grant, District 5; Marvin L. Lucas, District 6; and Erskine E. Simmons, District 7.
If no candidate receives a majority (50% plus one vote), the top two finishers will face a runoff on April Fool’s Day, April 1. The new officials will be sworn in on May 19.
In Tuscaloosa and almost all municipalities, candidates do not run with a party designation. All run as independents in a general election. There are no party primaries.
In 2018, Maddox won the Democrat nomination for governor of Alabama but lost the general election to incumbent Republican Gov. Kay Ivey.
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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