Alabama town’s first Black mayor, who had been locked out of office, wins election

Route 61 runs through Newbern, Ala., population 133, on July 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)

NEWBERN, Ala. — The first Black mayor of a tiny Alabama town overwhelmingly won election this week, four years after white residents locked him out of the town hall and refused to let him serve.

Incumbent Mayor Patrick Braxton was elected as the mayor of Newbern, winning 66 votes to his opponent’s 26, according to results posted by the town. His victory puts a punctuation mark in the dispute over control of the town government that drew national attention.

“The people came out and spoke and voted. Now, there ain’t no doubt what they want for this town,” Braxton said in a telephone interview Wednesday night.

The election Tuesday was the town’s first since at least the 1960s, held under a federal settlement. Black residents had sued, challenging what they called the town’s “hand-me-down governance” and refusal to let Braxton serve after he ran unopposed for mayor in 2020.

Newbern’s residents number just 133 people. A library, the town hall, a mercantile and a flashing caution light anchor the downtown, about 40 miles (64 kilometres) west of Selma.

What the town had been without is elections.

Newbern’s mayor-council government had not been put to a vote for six decades. Instead, town officials held “hand-me-down” positions, with each mayor appointing a successor who appointed the council members, according to the lawsuit filed by Braxton and others. The result was an overwhelmingly white government in a town where Black residents outnumber white residents 2-1.

Braxton, a volunteer firefighter, qualified in 2020 to run for the nonpartisan position of mayor, and since he was the only candidate, he became the mayor-elect without an election. He then appointed a new town council, as other mayors have done.

But the locks were changed at the town hall, and Braxton was denied access to the town’s financial accounts. His lawsuit also alleged that outgoing council members held a secret meeting to set up a special election and “fraudulently reappointed themselves as the town council.”

“I didn’t get a chance to serve but one year out of the five years,” said Braxton, who finally occupied the office last year after a three-year legal battle.

Town officials had denied wrongdoing, arguing in court filings that Braxton’s claim to be mayor was “invalid.”

The settlement agreement included a promise to hold a mayoral election in 2025.

Braxton had one challenger this time — a white auctioneer and Realtor, Laird Cole.

“Mayor Braxton’s election represents a turning point for Newbern, restoring democratic governance, ensuring fair representation, and reaffirming that every resident has a voice in their local government,” Madison Hollon, program manager of political campaigns for the SPLC Action Fund, said Thursday. The group endorsed Braxton in the race.

The mayor said his lopsided victory should eliminate any “doubts people had hanging in their heads on if people want me.”

“It feels good the second time,” Braxton said.

The Associated Press