UPDATED May 18, 2021 — Six people so far have lined up to challenge Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin for a chance to lead the city.

Woodfin was elected in 2017, defeating then-incumbent Mayor William Bell in a bitter race. He has announced he is running for reelection, as has Bell.

Bell had been a mainstay in local government for decades even before serving as mayor from 2010 to 2017. He served on the Birmingham City Council from 1979 until 2001 and again from 2005 to 2008. He took over as interim mayor briefly in 1999, following former Mayor Richard Arrington’s retirement, and served as the District 1 representative on the Jefferson County Commission from 2008 to 2010.

Woodfin ran four years ago with the slogan “we deserve better,” counting on public dissatisfaction with Bell’s seven years in office. Now, Bell is mimicking that approach. He said in his campaign launch video that Woodfin’s administration has been “four years of ineptitude and mismanagement” that has left the “city hurting and adrift.”

“Clearly we need an experienced hand to get us back on track,” Bell said in the video.

Woodfin has said that, if reelected, he would maintain his first administration’s focus on neighborhood revitalization, and he has pointed to his Birmingham Promise program to provide scholarships to Birmingham city high school graduates.

Bell’s presence in the campaign isn’t the only way this year’s election resembles 2017. Businessman Chris Woods, who finished third behind Woodfin and Bell in that election, announced another run for the seat in January. Woods, who endorsed Woodfin in the 2017 runoff against Bell, has blamed Woodfin for last year’s downtown riot over a since-removed Confederate monument and has described the city’s grip on crime as “weakening.”

Woods sued the city in 2015 after his company, C.W. Woods Contracting Services, was fired from several construction projects, including the city’s West Police Precinct and the Negro Southern League Museum. He claimed that his company had been blamed for delays in construction that really were the fault of the city; he was awarded $2.58 million.

Also in the race is Jefferson County Commissioner Lashunda Scales, who previously held the District 1 seat on the Birmingham City Council from 2009 to 2018. Scales says she will prioritize reducing crime, improving education, keeping the city clean and supporting local businesses so that working with the city “is a pleasure and a delight.”

“If you give me the opportunity to serve as your mayor, not just the first woman mayor, but to serve as your mayor, you will have a seat at the table. That is what I can guarantee,” she said during her campaign announcement last month.

Several political newcomers also have declared their intention to run on social media, including philanthropist Cerissa A. Brown, who announced her bid for mayor on Feb. 13. Activist Darryl Williams also plans to run but has not officially launched his campaign.

Most recently, activist Philemon Hill announced he’d be running for mayor. He previously ran for the seat in 2017.

Birmingham’s municipal elections — including for mayor, all nine councilors and all nine members of the Birmingham Board of Education — will be held Aug. 24, with a runoff Oct. 5 if needed.

This story was updated May 18.