2009 Birmingham mayoral election

The 2009 mayoral election for the city of Birmingham is a special election planned for December 8, 2009 to fill the office of Mayor of Birmingham left vacant by the conviction of Larry Langford after his trial on federal corruption charges. Candidates have until November 17 to qualify.

Candidates

Fourteen candidates filed qualification papers at the Jefferson County Court of Probate before the November 17 deadline:

• Emory Anthony, a criminal defense attorney, announced candidacy on November 9
• William Bell, Jefferson County Commissioner and former interim mayor
• T. C. Cannon, former bar owner and serial candidate
• Patrick Cooper, an attorney who finished 2nd in the 2007 Birmingham mayoral election, announced candidacy on November 5
• Scott Douglas, Director of Greater Birmingham Ministries
• Ernie Dunn, unemployed Hoover resident (died December 4, 2009)
• Steven Hoyt, a Birmingham City Council representative in his 2nd term, announced on November 13.
• Stephannie Huey, pastor, teacher, and a candidate in the 2003 Birmingham mayoral election
• Edith Mayomi, an employee at Jefferson State Community College, was first to file for the election
• Carole Smitherman, acting Mayor and 3-term councilor, announced on November 10
• Jason Sumners, owner of Sumners Publishing Group
• Jimmy Snow, Avondale resident, running on a platform of city hall reform
• Jody Trautwein, former head of the Alabama Coalition Against Same-Sex Marriage
• Harry "Traveling Shoes" Turner, an evangelist and clown

signs

• 

  Emory Anthony

• 

  William Bell

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  Patrick Cooper

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  Scott Douglas

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  Steven Hoyt

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  Carole Smitherman

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  Jason Sumners

• 

  Jody Trautwein

others mentioned

Richard Arrington, Jr, a former 5-term Mayor of Birmingham, Mary Moore, member of the Alabama House of Representatives and Cedric Sparks, director of the Mayor's Division of Youth Services, were mentioned as possible candidates, but did not run.

Campaign events

Four forums and a public debate were held during the short campaign season:

• A "Birmingham Mayoral Candidates' Political Forum" sponsored by the Jefferson County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta and the Huffman High School PTA was held on November 17, 2009 at Huffman High School's auditorium, with all declared candidates invited to participate.
• The Birmingham Business Alliance hosted a forum focusing on economic development issues on November 30 at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. Bell, Cannon, Hoyt, Huey, Mayomi, Smitherman, Sumners, Trautwein and Turner participated. (audio)
• A "2009 Catalyst Mayoral Forum", sponsored by Catalyst for Birmingham and moderated by Natalie Davis was held on Tuesday December 1 at WorkPlay. Six candidates were invited to participate. Anthony, Bell, Douglas, Hoyt and Smitherman all attended. Patrick Cooper sent regrets as he had a prior engagement. (audio)
• A new group, called Birmingham Roundtable, held a debate on December 3 at the Highland Conference Center with five candidates invited (Anthony, Bell, Cooper, Hoyt and Smitherman)
• The Metro Birmingham Branch of the NAACP sponsored a December 4 forum at Jackson-Olin High School.

Endorsements

The Birmingham News endorsed Emory Anthony, concluding that he is the only candidate with the potential to be a "great" mayor for Birmingham.

Former mayor Larry Langford endorsed William Bell because he has consistently supported his initiatives.

Campaign finances

In reports filed on Thursday, December 3, Cooper led all candidates in contributions with $246,550, including $30,000 from Ted C. Kennedy, and $40,000 from Jay Grinney and his wife Melanie, and a $19,500 contribution from New Leader PAC chaired by Jeremy Erdreich. Cooper began the campaign with $112,000 in unretired debt from the 2007 race. After spending $273,695 so far this year, his campaign remains nearly $110,000 in the red. Smitherman has raised $68,460, of which she has spend $46,460. Her largest contributions were from John McMahon, Jr and Phillip McWane, and from the FGA PAC chaired by Joe Fine. Bell gas spent $30,907 of the $37,900 he raised, including $5,000 contributions from Carl Rouss, Mark French and Bobby Humphrey. Anthony reported raising $15,915 and spending $12,688. His biggest contributors were Volkert & Associates and Bender & Agboola. Hoyt raised $24,285 and spent $21,489. His biggest contributor was former councilman Samuel Herring and the STA PAC, chaired by lobbyist Rudolph Davidson. Douglas raised $12,240, spending $4,066. Trautwein raised $2,760. Huey, Turner and Sumners reported no contributions. Cannon, Dunn, Mayomi and Snow did not file reports.

References

• Dean, Chuck (November 1, 2009) "Birmingham mayoral hopefuls may flood new race." Birmingham News
• Bryant, Joseph D. (November 2, 2009) "Birmingham mayoral election set for Dec. 8." Birmingham News
• Bryant, Joseph D. (November 8, 2009) "Emory Anthony to announce run for mayor Monday." Birmingham News
• Archibald, John (November 11, 2009) "Imagine that -- clowns, visionaries try to fill Langford's shoes." Birmingham News
• Natta, André (November 12, 2009) "Election '09: Let the mayoral forums begin" The Terminal
• Archibald, John (November 18, 2009) "Archibald: Ranking the mayoral hopefuls." Birmingham News
• Dean, Chuck (November 29, 2009) "Apathy, hope voiced before Birmingham mayoral vote." Birmingham News
• Bryant, Joseph D. (December 1, 2009) "Larry Langford endorses William Bell for mayor." Birmingham News
• Bryant, Joseph D. (December 3, 2009) "Cooper leads in fundraising, debt in mayor's race." Birmingham News
• "OUR VIEW: At least one candidate in a crowded field has the potential to be a fine leader for Birmingham." (December 6, 2009) Birmingham News

External links

• Official results at Jeffcointouch.com
• League of Women Voters of Greater Birmingham website