1896 Birmingham municipal election

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The 1896 Birmingham municipal election was held in December 1896 to elected a Mayor of Birmingham and a Birmingham Board of Aldermen made up of representatives from the city's 9 voting wards. Frank Evans was elected to a second term as Mayor.

Election

Registrars in each ward were responsible for qualifying voters for the election, under the guidance of Birmingham City Attorney Richard Evans. Registration was open from November 10 to November 20 and each qualified voter was given a ticket to present on election day. The registrars were listed as:

Frank Evans ran for re-election as the incumbent and as a representative of the Democratic Party. Various opposition parties gathered in advance of the election and drew up "tickets" to run on a unified platform, often nominated individuals who were not present and later had to be notified by a reporting committee that they would appear on the ballot. As a result, some individuals were nominated by more than one party.

R. A. Mosely attended a meeting of Black voters for the sole purpose of assuring that the group did not endorse Frank Evans for re-election. He reported that the group made no endorsements at all.

Citizens Reform ticket

The Citizen's Reform Party was organized by a group of about 75 citizens who met at Erswell's Hall on November 9. W. H. Graves chaired the meeting, at which Benjamin Roden was initially elected as their candidate for mayor over Christian Enslen. When Roden declined to accept the next morning, former mayor James Van Hoose was reached by telephon. He also declined to be nominated unless Enslen had dropped out of consideration. He had not, so Enslen became the nominee.

Citizens Independent ticket

At their party meeting at Engineers Hall on November 9 the Citizens Reform Party nominated Alva Lowery as their candidate for mayor.

Endorsements

The Birmingham News endorsed the candidacy of Christian Ensley, questioning the integrity of Frank Evans in relation to a bond deal undertaken during his tenure as City Treasurer. The News also endorsed a slate of Aldermanic candidates drawn from both Evans and Enslen's tickets:

In its editorial, the News explained that the city is a "municipal corporation" whose affairs were "simple business matters" requiring the attention of officers with the "capacity and character" for public service, rather than any political or religious affiliations. At the same time, the paper suggested that, "there are some otherwise admirably equipped candidates for Aldermanic duties, whose positions as to a water works deal, pool rooms, etc. tend to handicap their chances and will probably defeat them."

References

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