Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson has filed official paperwork establishing a campaign account to run for mayor of Mobile.
She has not announced her candidacy and says she will announce her plans after the first of the year.
The deadline to announce to run for mayor in the August 26, 2025 municipal election is June 10.
Hudson filed the "Appointment of Principal Campaign Committee for the office of Mayor of Mobile" on Friday, December 13.
The account shows Hudson receiving one campaign donation from her own campaign account for the county commissioner. It was the entire balance of her previous account, which was $158,207.17. That campaign account was dissolved and showed a zero balance.
Under Alabama law, it is legal to transfer funds from a person’s own state campaign account to another account for the same candidate for a different office.
Hudson’s name has been mentioned among several potential candidates for mayor of Mobile since Mayor Sandy Stimpson announced he would not be seeking a fourth term.
Hudson has served as Mobile County Commissioner for 14 years, having been first elected to the seat in 2010. She had spent the previous nine years as a Mobile City Council member.
The filing comes a month after Hudson, Commissioner Randall Dueitt and Commissioner Mercia Ludgood were all sworn into new terms following the 2024 election. They have all been elected to new four-year terms until 2028.
If Hudson does run for mayor, it will be what politicos call “a free shot.” She does not have to resign her present office to run. If she wins, she would then resign as county commissioner to be sworn in as mayor. If she loses, she would remain as county commissioner until 2028, when she would be allowed to run again if desired.
Some states have a “resign-to-run” law requiring any officeholder to resign from the current office to run a campaign for any different office. (They can, of course, run for re-election to the same office without resigning.) In Alabama, the only elected officials under a resign-to-run requirement are elected judges, who must resign to run unless they are seeking another judgeship. An example would be Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell, who is considering a run for an open seat for Alabama Attorney General. If he announces for AG, he must immediately resign the court seat.
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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