Alabama capital elects first black mayor in 200-year history [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Updated 10:50 pm CDT, Tuesday, October 8, 2019



Photo: Mickey Welsh, AP
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Montgomery Mayor-elect Steven Reed speaks at his victory party, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, in Montgomery, Ala. Reed becomes the first black mayor in the Alabama capital's 200-year history after defeating businessman David Woods by a decisive margin. (Mickey Welsh/Montgomery Advertiser via AP)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's capital, a city once known as the cradle of the Confederacy and later the birthplace of the civil rights movement, elected its first African American mayor Tuesday.

Probate Judge Steven Reed, 45, clasped the history-making victory to be elected the next mayor of Montgomery after defeating businessman David Woods by a decisive margin. Reed won about 67% of the vote in Tuesday's mayoral runoff, according to unofficial returns.

"This election has never been about me. This election has never been about just my ideas. It's been about all of the hopes and dreams that we have as individuals and collectively in the city," Reed said in his victory speech.

. . .

Reed was already the first black probate judge elected in Montgomery County and was one of the first to issue marriage licenses to gay couples in the state. His father, Joe Reed, is the longtime leader of the black caucus of the Alabama Democratic Party. Woods, who owns WCOV-TV, is the son of the late broadcasting executive Charles Woods, a perennial Alabama candidate for more than 30 years.



Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Alabama-capital-could-gain-first-black-mayor-in-14501714.php