Small coastal Alabama town elects first Black woman mayor

Prichard, a small town north of Mobile struggling with a water and sewage crisis, ousted its mayor from office Tuesday night.

Carletta Davis, a community activist, won the runoff for mayor of Prichard. Davis received 2,191 votes, and incumbent Mayor Jimmie Gardner received 714.

Davis is the first Black woman elected to the office, according to Prichard City Councilmember Stephani Johnson-Norwood. Prichard is 88.7% Black.

After Tuesday’s elections, four out of five members of Prichard’s city council are women, in an overhaul of the town’s leadership.

Davis leads We Matter Eight Mile, a community action group. She has been active in Prichard’s numerous water and sewer difficulties.

The town’s water and sewer utility has been under control of a receiver for the last two years after it defaulted on a $56 million loan from a bank.

The utility loses 60% of the water it purchases, and millions of gallons of raw sewage spills in the town every year.

Issues with water and sewage service, along with concerns about crime, dominated this year’s elections.

Nine provisional ballots have not been counted, but they will not be a decisive factor in the race. The town came under fire for its handling of provisional ballots during the August 23 general election.

Issues in last election

Davis ran against incumbent Jimmie Gardner and Lorenzo Martin, a former city councilman, in the general election in August.

Davis and Gardner advanced to the runoff, with Davis receiving the most votes. However, Gardner led Martin by just a few votes, 635 to 631 to get into the runoff, according to WKRG.

Davis received 951 votes in the general election.

However, between 13 and 23 provisional ballots cast in the August 23 race were not counted. Martin filed a challenge in Mobile County Circuit Court, asking for those ballots to be counted.

A provisional ballot is one cast by a voter whose eligibility cannot be proven on election day.

The provisional ballots in question were left behind at a senior center and delivered to the Mobile County Board of Registrars more than 24 hours after the election. The Mobile County Board of Registrars discounted 13 provisional ballots.

Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Michael Youngpeter dismissed Martin’s claim, in part because of a “failure to file security for the necessary costs.” Martin paid a $10,000 bond as part of his challenge.

“A qualified elector must not be punished, if you will, with blatant misconduct enabled by a public official cognizant of all applicable laws related to fair elections,” Martin’s motion to reconsider Youngpeter’s dismissal says. “This surely is unconstitutional.”

The ACLU of Alabama issued a scathing report earlier this month, highlighting issues with elections around the state, including Prichard. In their report, the civil rights group said provisional ballots were not available at polling places, and poll workers wrote “provisional” on standard ballots.

The Prichard City Clerk’s staff was not available throughout election day August 23, the ACLU said, despite concerns about ballot access.

City Council races

Prichard city councilmembers Annie Williams, in District One, and Johnson-Norwood, in District Two, were reelected without opposition.

• In District Three, Traci Hale defeated Mario Yow, Sr., 326 votes to 168 votes.
• In District Four, leader of voting advocacy group Teresa Fox-Bettis defeated incumbent George McCall, Jr., 316 votes to 193 votes.
• In District Five, Roy Smith II defeated Anthony Barry, 304 votes to 283 votes. Smith will be the lone man on the city council.