Incumbents in Huntsville, Tuskegee lose

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October 8, 2008

Anonymous The News Courier Wed Oct 08, 2008, 09:24 AM CDT

Two high-profile incumbent mayors in Alabama lost runoff elections.

Long-time Tuskegee Mayor Johnny Ford lost to businessman and radio personality Omar Neal, and three-term Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer was defeated Tuesday by businessman Tommy Battle.

In Huntsville, the unofficial vote count was 21,123 for Battle, a former City Council member, and 16,821 for Spencer, who served for 12 years. Battle ran for mayor in 1988 but lost.

In Tuskgee, Neal received 1,462 votes to Ford’s 1,270.

Ford was elected as Tuskegee’s first black mayor in 1972 and was seeking an eighth term. He lost in 1996, but was elected to the state House in 1998 and re-elected in 2002. He switched from the Democratic Party and became the only black Republican in the Legislature in 2004, when he won election as mayor again and resigned his statehouse post.

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