Wade on Birmingham

BREAKING – Vote 2009: William Bell wins mayor’s race over Patrick Cooper

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William Bell will be the next mayor of Birmingham.

Jefferson County commissioner William Bell defeated attorney Patrick Cooper in today’s Birmingham mayoral runoff election. Bell marks the third time in a row in which the underdog mayoral candidate in Birmingham’s general election upset the leader in the runoff.

Wade on Birmingham - Vote 2009Bell received 25,354 votes, or 53.6 percent, while Cooper picked up 21,979 votes, for 46.4 percent. Voter turnout was 41 percent, much higher than in December’s general election.

Bell will succeed acting mayor and city council president Roderick Royal, who succeeded Carole Smitherman in the same capacity, who took over after former mayor Larry Langford was convicted in October in federal court.

Currently serving on the county commission, Bell previously served on the city council as its first black president and as interim mayor. He ran for mayor in 1999, 2003 and 2007. During this campaign, Bell touted selling the Birmingham Water Works for $200 million that went to school improvements, known as the Bell Plan.

Bell will serve the remaining 2 years on Langford’s term, until the next regular election in 2011.

Video: Bell’s victory speech

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More Vote 2009 coverage.

12 Yips for “BREAKING – Vote 2009: William Bell wins mayor’s race over Patrick Cooper”

  1. Tweets that mention Wade on Birmingham » BREAKING – Vote 2009: William Bell wins mayor’s race over Patrick Cooper -- Topsy.com
    Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 9:41 pm
    1

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Wade Kwon and Javier Brown, GuyBearded. GuyBearded said: RT @WadeOnTweets: BREAKING: William Bell wins Bham mayoral runoff election over Patrick Cooper. http://bit.ly/7bYvF2 #alpolitics […]

  2. Jeremy
    Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 10:20 pm
    2

    You cannot deliver on your promises without money. We have no money. Both canidates would have been equally ineffective.

  3. uberVU - social comments
    Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 10:36 pm
    3

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by WadeOnTweets: BREAKING: William Bell wins Bham mayoral runoff election over Patrick Cooper. http://bit.ly/7bYvF2 #alpolitics…

  4. Wade
    Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 10:51 pm
    4

    A little creative Langford math, and money will be coming out of every seam of City Hall.

  5. Carlton
    Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 10:56 pm
    5

    Hard to love a city that never learns.

  6. Jeremy
    Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 11:07 pm
    6

    These are risky times to make those kind of transactions.

  7. Wade
    Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 11:16 pm
    7

    And yet, I still love Birmingham.

  8. Jeff Vreeland
    Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 11:25 pm
    8

    Very surprised at the voter turnout today. I never would have expected to see 41%!

  9. Jeremy
    Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 11:37 pm
    9

    A class war will do that.

  10. TT
    Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 11:39 pm
    10

    Now maybe your sales tax rate will go up to 11%

  11. Jeremy
    Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 11:59 pm
    11

    No sales tax on food stamps.

  12. Wade
    Wednesday, January 20, 2010, 7:08 pm
    12

    How about a new food tax? Or triple the business license fees?

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