Read the Jefferson County Memorial Project’s inaugural report, “Jefferson County’s 30 Residents,” for information about the project and stories on the 30 lynching victims in the county.
Gov. Kay Ivey has won the Republican nomination for governor without a runoff, despite having eight opponents. In the other most-followed race in the state, the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate is going to a runoff between Katie Britt and Mo Brooks.
But there were far more nominations than those decided Tuesday, including several high-profile Jefferson County races in addition to races for the statewide constitutional offices. See complete election results.
It looks like Gov. Kay Ivey has won the Republican nomination for governor without a runoff, despite having eight opponents.
At 11 p.m., she had more than 55% of the vote. Lindy Blanchard was a distant second with slightly more than 19% of the vote. Tim James was the only other candidate with double-digit support, clocking in with slightly less than 16% of the vote.
On the Democratic side, it appears Yolanda Rochelle Flowers and Malika Sanders Fortier will face each other in a runoff June 21. They ended the day in a virtual tie with about 33% of the vote each.
The race for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate also appears to be going to a runoff. Katie Britt was the leader with about 45% of the vote, and Mo Brooks trailed with less than 29% of the vote. But she did not get the 50% + 1 votes needed to win the nomination outright.
Wil Boyd easily captured the Democratic nomination with 64% of the vote.
In Jefferson County, Sheriff Mark Pettway appears to have easily won re-nomination with 77% of the vote, and Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson reclaimed her seat with more than 86% of the vote.
The general election will be in November.
The Jefferson County Commission saw an extensive presentation Tuesday morning on the entities involved with youth detention and the juvenile justice system. After hearing about rehabilitation, recidivism and the humanity of the young people in the system, commissioners learned that they’ll have to tune in next time to find out what’s being sought monetarily. Read more.
Republicans hold all statewide offices plus supermajorities in the state legislature. But Alabama Democrats are in a good position this year, according to the head of the Alabama Democratic Party. Read more.
Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens said that someday a future panel of commissioners will say an action taken by the commission Thursday was shortsighted.
Stephens cast the one nay vote to a request to rezone property in McCalla from agricultural to commercial to accommodate a convenience store with a gas station and deli. The property, at 4476 Bell Hill Road, next to the UAB West Hospital that’s currently under construction.
The current land use plan for that area is rural. Stephens said the immediate future should have been weighed more heavily. Read more.
The Birmingham Water Works Board has asked the city to require developers of a property near the Cahaba River watershed to submit to board approval before beginning construction.
Arlington Properties plans to build a multi-family housing development at 4641 U.S. 280, a property that is directly adjacent to BWWB-owned Cahaba watershed lands. The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved rezoning the property from an agricultural district to a general commercial district. The BWWB is asking to have a say in the development’s permitting process.
“If this development is being considered for approval, we would request that the city require the developers to comply with Birmingham Water Works’ watershed protection policy and to submit the proposed plans and associated documentation to the BWWB prior to such approval,” April Nabors, the BWWB’s environmental engineer, told the council. “We just want to be part of the approval process.”
District 2 Councilor Hunter Williams expressed some skepticism about this request, in light of the board’s recent attempt to have conservation restrictions on its own watershed properties loosened. Read more.
Vestiges of segregation still thread through the systems and processes with which we engage throughout our lives, influencing Black Alabamians in large and small ways, including economic opportunities and lifetime wealth, relationship with law enforcement, health care and even projected lifespan. BirminghamWatch has an ongoing effort to analyze how these sometimes unrecognized vestiges of segregation are playing out in people’s lives today. Read stories in The Legacy of Race series.
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