Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge, Place 27 Alaric May Age: 48 Party: Democrat Residence: Pinson Political experience: Ran for circuit judge in 2016; member, Alabama Democratic Executive Committee, 2006-2010. Professional Experience: May Law Firm, 2008-present; May & Green, LLC, 2000-2008; special Circuit Court judge, 2004-present; special District Court judge, 2006-present; has served as judge pro
Recently, Alabama’s Republican secretary of state, John Merrill, got into a Twitter spat with Mallory Hagan, a Democrat running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, over whether Merrill is suppressing the vote in the state. To have candidates for political office, one of them an incumbent office holder, debate such a contentious issue on Twitter demonstrates how much social media has become a part of the conversations surrounding elections, including the upcoming midterms. And that’s hardly the only way social media touches politics these days. Candidates use Facebook pages. Voters share videos and news links to help or hurt a given party or candidate. Sitting office-holders regularly comment on current events. Social media users locally also share their experiences with how the voting process works in the state. How big a part of the political conversation is social media, and how much influence does it wield in decisions being made? With social media now a common way for people to access and share information, what role will Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms play in the upcoming midterm elections locally? While the exact impact is only a guess, it is clear that local voters and local candidates are relying on social media to participate in the next round of voting – even in the face of evidence that outside forces have used it to manipulate the electorate. Read more.
Jefferson County Commission District 4 J.T. Smallwood Party: Democrat Age: 52 Residence: Trussville Political experience: Elected to three terms as Jefferson County Tax Collector, 2002, 2008, 2014. Professional experience: 1995-99, Smallwood Law Firm; 1999-2002, Jefferson County Family Court; UAB Hockey coach: 2017-2018, assistant coach, 2018-2019, volunteer head coach. Education: UAB, bachelor’s; studied theology, Samford University;
Jefferson County Commission District 4 Joe Knight Party: Republican Age: 64 Residence: Trussville Political experience: Elected to Jefferson County Commission District 4 in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. Professional experience: Attorney in private practice, 28 years. Law Offices of T. Joe Knight, 1990 to present; general counsel to Alabama Association of Nurse Anesthetists; former certified
Office: Jefferson County Commission, District 5 Party: Republican Age: 50 Residence: Vestavia Hills Political experience: Vestavia Hills City Council, mayor pro tem, 2008-2016; unpaid intern to District 5 Commissioner David Carrington in preparation for taking office. Professional experience: CEO, Bullet Screening Services, 2002-2017; president, Background IQ, 2018-present. Civic experience: Member,Jefferson County Economic and Industrial Development Authority, 2017-present;
Jefferson County Commission, District 1 Party: Democratic Age: Age 47 Residence: Huffman Political experience: Birmingham City Council, 3 terms, Nov. 2009-present. Professional experience: Owner, Scales PR Marketing Firm Inc., February 2000-present. Has worked for several other businesses, including some that are family owned and operated. Civic experience: Partner In Education, Birmingham City Schools; former vice president, Echo Highlands
Jefferson County Board of Education, Place 3 Oscar Mann Party: Republican Age: 71 Residence: Gardendale Political offices held: Jefferson County Board of Education, board member and current president; former Gardendale City Council member. Professional experience: Assistant principal, teacher, coach, student teacher mentor and bus driver during more than 20 years with Jefferson County Schools; U.S. Navy veteran;
Jefferson County Board of Education, Place 2 Party: Democratic Martha V. Bouyer Age: 69 Residence: Lipscomb Political offices held: Jefferson County Board of Education, 2014-2018. Professional experience: Educator at John Carroll High School, 1971-1976; Hewitt-Trussville Jr. High School, 1977-1994; Jefferson County Schools secondary social studies supervisor, 1995-2010. Education: Lawson State Community College, AA Degree, 1969; Alabama A&M
Jefferson County Commission District 2 Sheila Tyson Age: 57 Residence: West End Community Political experience: Birmingham City Council, District 6, 2008-present. Professional experience: After graduation from Birmingham’s West End high school, Tyson began a career in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Army Reserves and retired as a disabled veteran. Civic experience: Founder, Operation Brightside;
In his book “The Infamous Birmingham Axe Murders,” journalist Jeremy Gray has a hell of a story to tell. From 1919 to 1924, as many as 18 people were killed and 16 injured in a series of brutal attacks. A number of the victims were Italian grocers killed when their stores were robbed. The killings were not the work of a single killer or group of killers, and not all the victims were attacked with axes (one victim was beaten to death with a shovel, another with a metal pipe) but the spree of murders panicked Birmingham and stirred the nasty specters of race, class and religious bigotry. The police and the newspapers focused on African-American suspects and, because several of the victims were Italian, the Mafia. The Birmingham Age-Herald offered readers a completely made up serial killer, publishing a racist cartoon of an axe-wielding black man dubbed “Henry the Hacker.” With the approval of the police, the Ku Klux Klan paraded through African-American neighborhoods at night hoping to intimidate potential black criminals. Read more.
