2017 Birmingham Elections
Six Incumbents Win Re-Election to the Birmingham City Council, Three Races Will Be Decided in Runoffs
Voters on Tuesday chose to keep the Birmingham City Council’s current lineup mostly intact. Six councilors won re-election outright, while two more garnered enough votes to head to a runoff.
The one council seat without an incumbent vying for re-election also is headed to a runoff — though with a familiar face in the lead.
District 1’s Lashunda Scales, District 3’s Valerie Abbott, District 4’s William Parker, District 6’s Sheila Tyson, District 7’s Jay Roberson, and District 8’s Steven Hoyt were elected without a runoff Tuesday.
With 79.51 percent of her district’s votes, Tyson won by the largest margin of any councilor, followed closely by Parker’s 74.32 percent.
Council President Johnathan Austin faced stronger opposition from challenger Darrell O’Quinn, who received 25.68 percent of the District 5 vote. Austin received the most votes among the seven candidates running for the seat, 31.5 percent. He and O’Quinn will square off the Oct. 3 runoff election.
The only incumbent not to receive the highest number of votes in their district was Councilor Kim Rafferty, of District 2. Rafferty finished a distant second to Hunter Williams in the eight-candidate field. He received 29.36 percent of the vote; she received 17.37. The two are headed for the Oct. 3 runoff as well.
Only one council seat is guaranteed to change at the start of the new term, though. District 9’s Marcus Lundy did not seek re-election. Roderick Royal, who occupied the seat before Lundy was elected and previously served as council president, is the current frontrunner to take Lundy’s place, having received 30.9 percent of the vote. He’ll face John Hilliard, who received 21.4 percent of the vote, in the runoff.