Langford Wins Birmingham Mayorship
Larry Langford is the new mayor of the state’s largest city according the numbers at AL.com, squeaking by without a run-off with 50.33% of the vote. Langford was close enough to a run-off that we would have seen one if 86 Langford voters had voted for someone else. Patrick Cooper was second with 29.54% of the vote. Incumbent Bernard Kincaid was third with 8.12% of the vote.
Final numbers from AL.com:
| Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|
| Valerie Abbott | 736 | 1.41% |
| William Bell | 3505 | 6.73% |
| Raymond “Ray” Brooks | 42 | 0.08% |
| Patrick Cooper | 15392 | 29.54% |
| Willis H. (Buddy) Hendrix | 41 | 0.08% |
| Bernard Kincaid | 4234 | 8.12% |
| Larry Langford | 26227 | 50.33% |
| Darryl W. Perry | 59 | 0.11% |
| Carole Smitherman | 1804 | 3.46% |
| Barry L. Taylor | 71 | 0.14% |
Fox 6 is saying Cooper has already said he will call for a recount
Comment by William Wyatt Wallace — October 9, 2007 @ 10:43 pm
So, let’s see. Langford wins, gets indicted, is convicted, is removed from office, making Carole Smitherman the mayor. The next few months should prove very interesting.
Comment by Will — October 9, 2007 @ 11:49 pm
Just when you think things can’t get any worse in Birmingham… They elect Langford as mayor. Brilliant.
Comment by Brian — October 10, 2007 @ 5:50 am
The man’s most recent and most notable accomplishments are raising taxes, building a broke theme park, helping to screw up a sewer system, boycotting Saks, and losing one of Jefferson County’s oldest and most notable businesses. Let’s not forget that he was mayor of Fairfield when we got Richard M. Scrushy Parkway. You like how Fairfield looks and functions? That will be Birmingham in 10 years. He’ll do SOMETHING, alright. And if we thought Bernard Kincaid didn’t play well with others, wait until you see Larry Langford.
The people that I truly fear for are those like my husband who work in Birmingham but do not live there. They can’t vote, but I assure you that they’ll be affected. Langford is guaranteed to raise some taxes in the name of some swell-sounding but ill-fated entitlement, and the voters of Birmingham will go right along with it. My guess is that he’ll go after sales tax and/or the occupational tax first. (Because the best people to tax are the ones who can’t do anything about it by voting against you.) Meanwhile, the commute to Birmingham will be that much more dangerous, because Langford doesn’t exactly have a stellar record when it comes to curbing crime. Langford’s specialties are taxes, entitlements, and business endeavors that should be privatized.
I wouldn’t be so disturbed if I weren’t aware of Langford’s real motives. He only became a Birmingham resident so that he could run for mayor, which says that he’s using the city as a political step stool toward a gubernatorial run. While I doubt that he’ll come close to the governor’s seat, the last thing Birmingham needs is a mayor who isn’t there for the sole purpose of bettering Birmingham.
Comment by ALmod — October 10, 2007 @ 8:38 am
Birmingham continues its slide into corruption.
Comment by random comment — October 10, 2007 @ 8:48 am
Yea I can’t believe how open it is that Langford got an apartment just for the sake of having a birmingham address and still managed to get elected, glad I don’t live in Birmingham.
Comment by William Wyatt Wallace — October 10, 2007 @ 9:15 am
Looks to me like 2,752 votes were wasted on the bottom six candidates.
I wonder how many would’ve voted for Cooper.
Comment by OldCloverdale — October 10, 2007 @ 9:17 am
Somebody with some free time should figure out exactly how much money was spent/raised per vote, because Carole Smitherman was definitely pulling and and putting out some money to only get 3% of the vote.
Comment by William Wyatt Wallace — October 10, 2007 @ 12:15 pm
thanks Valerie Abbott for electing Larry
Comment by comment — October 10, 2007 @ 1:16 pm
OK, it can’t be Valerie’s fault. Even if everybody who voted for Abbott instead voted for Cooper, Langford still has 50.3% of the vote.
Comment by Roy — October 10, 2007 @ 3:42 pm
William, I would like to have done that already but have been too busy elsewhere. I still would enjoy it.
Re comments 7 & 9… as Roy pointed out, if every voter who didn’t vote for Langford voted for Cooper, Langford would still be the winner with more than 50% of the vote.
Comment by Danny — October 10, 2007 @ 4:47 pm