Birmingham -

There are 12 people who are in the running to become Birmingham's next mayor.  These candidates either filed paperwork to officially qualify, or say they will launch a campaign to serve the remaining two years of Larry Langford's term. The special mayoral election is scheduled for December 8, 2009.

The list includes political newcomers, current leaders, and people who have run for Birmingham mayor multiple times before now.

Here is the list, as of Saturday, November 14:

Emory Anthony
William Bell
Patrick Cooper
Scott Douglas
Ernie Dunn
Steven Hoyt
Stephannie Sigler Huey
Edith Mayomi
Carole Smitherman
Jimmy Snow
Jody Trautwein
Harry Turner, Jr.

CANDIDATE PROFILES

Emory Anthony
Emory Anthony is making his third run for Birmingham's mayoral office. The defense attorney came in second place to Mayor Richard Arrington Jr. in the 1991 and 1995 mayoral elections. He later became a supporter and adviser to Mayor Bernard Kincaid during his eight years in City Hall. Anthony was a prosecutor, then a municipal judge. He also served as the dean of Miles Law School and ran unsuccessfully for the Alabama State Senate. Anthony is now a defense attorney who has represented several high-profile defendants, including Dedrick Griham who was convicted of kidnapping and raping Birmingham attorney Sandra Gregory.

Emory Anthony announced his intention to run to ABC 33/40's Roy Hobbs on November 8 and made his formal announcement the next day. He says his campaign will focus on first getting the city's finances in order, then move on to education and transportation. He says “You can sell your city when you have a quality education.” Anthony also says he will work to make “one Birmingham” and give people in all parts of the city, the same opportunities.


William Bell
This is William Bell's fourth run for the mayor's office, an office he briefly held in 1999. He now represents District 1 on the Jefferson County Commission where he is the President Pro-tem. As commissioner he oversees the Department of Health and Community Services, which includes Cooper Green Hospital. Bell has held public office for nearly 30 years. He was first elected to the Birmingham City Council in 1979. The councilors picked him as president of the council three times. He was president in 1999 when Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington Jr. stepped down shortly before the end of his term. Bell became the interim mayor before losing the 1999 election in a runoff with Bernard Kincaid. He lost in the next city council election in 2001 and launched his second unsuccessful mayoral campaign in 2003. Bell was returned to the council after the 2005 election, and ran again for mayor in 2007, the election won by former Mayor Larry Langford. Bell eventually won Langford's seat on the Commission, taking office almost exactly one year before launching his 2009 mayoral campaign.

William Bell announced his run on November 12, saying his campaign will focus on crime, education and job creation. Bell also says he would not distance himself from Langford, adding that he does not run from his friends in “good times or bad times.” Bell says he Langford brought a new vitality to the city, but if elected Bell says he would be more thoughtful in his decisions.


Patrick Cooper
Patrick Cooper became one of the first candidates to announce a mayoral campaign in 2009. It will be his second attempt at the mayor's office in about two years. He came in second to former Mayor Larry Langford in the 2007 election, missing a runoff by a narrow margin. Cooper asked for a recount and challenged the results of the election, saying Langford was not a Birmingham resident. He claimed Langford “intentionally perpetrated a fraud.” Cooper dropped his appeal about a month after Langford was sworn into office. Cooper is a Yale University and Yale Law School graduate. He returned to Alabama in 1994 and became a partner at a Birmingham law firm. Most recently he started a non-profit organization called Birmingham Vision.

Cooper made his announcement on November 5, eight days after Langford was removed from office. Speaking in front of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute he listed reducing crime, improving schools, attracting jobs, and ending disputes among city leaders as some of his key priorities.


Scott Douglas
Scott Douglas told supporters he was planning to run just days after Larry Langford was convicted. He works as executive director for Greater Birmingham Ministries, a position he has held for more than 15 years. The organization helps residents in low-income Birmingham neighborhoods. Douglas has also supported efforts to create a new constitution for the state of Alabama.

Scott Douglas made his formal announcement on November 12 in Kelly Ingram Park. He says he is running on a platform of “Green Jobs, Green Schools, Green Transportation, Green Communities.” He says he will bring together neighborhoods, non-profits, and businesses to move the city forward. On the day of his announcement he told ABC 33/40 “One thing I really want to do is give people a reason to vote, to participate in shaping Birmingham's future.”


Steven Hoyt
Steven Hoyt will begin his second term as a Birmingham City Councilor in late November after being re-elected with 55% of the vote. He represents District 8 and is chairman of the Economic Development Committee. Hoyt worked with city government years before running for the city council. He was the president of the Belview Heights Neighborhood Association and served on several Birmingham boards and committees. He is also a minister at Thirgood Memorial Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

Steven Hoyt launched his campaign with an announcement in front of the Fair Park revitalization project. He says projects like that are ones the city must continue working on. Hoyt says he will use his experience as chair of the committee to bring new businesses to Birmingham. He pledged to bring 10 new businesses to the city in a year, and says he will work with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity to build 7,000 houses in seven years.


Stephannie Sigler Huey
This is Stephannie Sigler Huey's second campaign to become Birmingham's mayor. She came in 14th out of 18 mayoral candidates in 2003 with 63 votes. The Birmingham City Schools math teacher is also a pastor at God's Holy Tabernacle Church. She holds a doctorate in christian education from Andersonville Theological Seminary in Georgia and ministers at the Firehouse Shelter. She also ran for the mayor of Denver, Colorado in 1999.

Stephannie Sigler Huey is running on a platform that includes creating new jobs, repaving streets, developing better community relations, reducing crime, and creating a bus rapid transit program.


Edith Mayomi
This is Edith Mayomi's first political campaign. She was the first candidate to file paperwork and officially qualify for the race. Mayomi's campaign is focusing on improving education and health care for Birmingham.


Carole Smitherman
The current interim mayor, Carole Smitherman says she wants a permanent shot at the office. Smitherman was just re-elected to the Birmingham City Council for a third term with a narrow runoff victory. She represents District 6 and was elected president of the council in her second term. As president, Smitherman immediately took control of the mayor's office after Larry Langford's corruption conviction. The day after the verdict, she said she was not planning any major changes, but that changed after she says she found out about a $20,000,000 deficit. The city's finance director, Steve Sayler, a long-time Langford associate resigned, Smitherman fired Deborah Vance-Bowie, the mayor's chief of staff, and she laid off seven employees of the mayor's office. She ran for Birmingham's mayor in 2003 and 2007. Outside of her public life she is an attorney and runs a firm with her husband, Alabama State Senator Rodger Smitherman. She is also on the faculty of Miles Law School. Her career includes time as a prosecutor and a circuit court judge.

Carole Smitherman has not officially kicked-off her campaign, but announced her plans on ABC 33/40's Good Morning Alabama. On November 10 she confirmed to ABC 33/40's Pam Huff that she will be running and she will launch her campaign soon. Smitherman says she wants to get the mayor's office and the city government in order before turning her attention to the campaign.


Jimmy Snow
The Avondale resident is making his first venture into politics and says he does not want to become a politician. Snow says he wants to clean up City Hall in the two years left in the term.


Jody Trautwein
Jody Trautwein will officially kick-off his campaign on Monday, November 16th. Trautwein is the youth pastor at Point of Grace Ministries in Birmingham and has preached across the United States. He is possibly most well-known for being an unwitting cast member in the movie “Bruno.” Trautwein was shown trying to help the movie's star convert from a homosexual life to a heterosexual one. The minister says he was tricked into being a part of a movie, but says he is happy he was able to spread the word of God to a nationwide audience..

Jody Trautwein will announce his campaign on Monday at the Point of Grace Ministries, located in the old Wildwood Wynnsong theater. He says his goal is to transform the city.


Harry Turner, Jr.
Harry Turner, Jr. is another minister running for the city's highest office. He is better known as the “Traveling Shoes Preacher,” and also works as “Happy Harry” the clown. He is a chaplain for the Birmingham Police Department and works for the United States Postal Service. Turner says he wants to get the community back into the city government and give the residents more control.

 Email To Friend