T H E B I R M I N G H A M N E WS A L .
C O M S U N DAY, O CTO B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 8 A15
Local contested races
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Joe Knight J.T. Small-
(R) (i) wood (D)
COUNTY COMMISSION: DISTRICT 4
Republican incumbent Joe Knight has held this seat
since he was first elected in 2010. His Democratic chal-
lenger is J.T. Smallwood, Jefferson County’s tax collector
since 2002.
Knight, a private practice attorney, says he’s running on
his record. He says he’s “proud to have helped transformed
the commission into an efficient governmental unit in wake
of bankruptcy and layoffs.”
Smallwood says he “brings a common sense approach
to solving problems, which was honed while being a small
business owner,” according to his website.
Mike Danny
Anderton (R) Carr (D)
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Republican Mike Anderton, 62, is looking to hold onto
the seat he was appointed to by Gov. Kay Ivey in November
2017.
He previously served as Jefferson County deputy assis-
tant district attorney from 1984 to 1987 and Jefferson
County district attorney’s office’s division chief from 1987
to 2017. This is his first time seeking elected office.
Democratic challenger Danny Carr, 45, served as
interim DA for the first 11 months of 2017 after the man
elected to the position, Democrat Charles Todd Henderson,
was charged and found guilty of perjury.
With 17 years of prosecutorial experience behind him,
this is Carr’s first time running for political office. He touts
crime prevention, safer streets and communities, and com-
munity trust with law enforcement, as well as victims’
rights.
Anderton says he seeks first and foremost to make Jef-
ferson County a safer place for all residents. He says he
believes in upholding the law equally for everyone across
the board without regard for race, creed, status or any other
factors.
Mike Mark
Hale (R) (i) Pettway (D)
SHERIFF
Republican incumbent Mike Hale, 67, ran successfully
for sheriff in 2002 and has won re-election every race since.
He says his priorities include school safety, diversity in
hiring in promotional practices, and the continued efforts
of the Metro Area Crime Center.
Democratic challenger Mark Pettway, 54, has been in
local law enforcement for 25 years, currently detective ser-
geant with the sheriff’s office.
This is his first time running for political office. He says
his top priority is ensuring public safety with a focus on
protecting children in schools, community policing, crimi-
nal justice reform and law enforcement training.
Tracey Marshell
Crisan Jackson
McDonald Hatcher (D)
(R)
CIRCUIT COURT: PLACE 8
This is Democrat Marshell Jackson Hatcher’s first
time running for office. She’s been a practicing attorney for
21 years, adjunct law professor for two, and a former sher-
iff’s deputy. She says improving the quality of justice is crit-
ical to the community. “My service would be fair, my ser-
vice would be impartial, and my decisions would be based
on the evidence that comes before me,” she told Glamour in
May.
Republican Tracey Crisan McDonald, an attorney,
has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in civil lit-
igation. Through her handling of those cases, she says she
has gained the respect of the legal community through her
strict ethics, professionalism and dedicated advocacy on
behalf of clients.
Teresa T. Linda
Pulliam (R) Hall (D)
(i)
CIRCUIT COURT: PLACE 16
Republican incumbent Teresa T. Pulliam had her own
private law practice for 14 years before she was appointed to
the circuit court bench in 2005 by Gov. Bob Riley. She was
elected in 2006 and re-elected to the bench in 2012.
Pulliam grew up in Huntsville and is a 1980 magna cum
laude graduate of Birmingham-Southern College. She grad-
uated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1983
and began her legal career as a prosecutor in the Mobile Dis-
trict Attorney’s Office, moving to the Jefferson County Dis-
trict Attorney’s Office in 1986.
Democratic challenger Linda Hall’s candidacy has been
up in the air for weeks now. Just this past week, Fayette
County Circuit Judge Samuel Junkin ruled her not eligible
to run because of residency requirements. A lawsuit filed
last month by a Jefferson County voter stated Hall, a pri-
vate practice attorney for the past 20 years, lives in Shelby
County — which isn’t part of the 10th circuit — and hasn’t
lived in Jefferson County for the required 12 months.
Junkin, however, did not issue an injunction — at the
request of the plaintiff — that would have prevented Hall’s
votes from being counted.
Leslie Alaric
Schiffman May (D)
Moore (R)
CIRCUIT COURT: PLACE 27
Democratic candidate Alaric May brings more than 23
years experience to the table. The attorney is currently a
special circuit court judge and a special district court judge,
and he’s a member in good standing to seven bar associa-
tions.
“May said one of the main responsibilities of the Circuit
Court criminal judgeships is punishment, and sentences
should be evaluated in each case based on the crime, the
impact on the victim and the defendant’s circumstances.
But he said the judgeship’s primary focus should be preven-
tion,” according to Birmingham Watch.
Republican candidate Leslie Schiffman Moore was
the assistant district attorney in the Jefferson County DA’s
office, Bessemer Division, from October 2000 through Jan-
uary 2017, specializing in child physical and sexual abuse
and child death cases. (One case garnered the longest sen-
tence in Bessemer system history — 822 years — according
to her website.)
She followed that up from February 2017 through April
2018 as assistant DA in the Birmingham district.
Her goals include stopping the school-to-prison pipeline,
and developing and shoring up programs to help stop opioid
addiction.
Davis Pamela
Lawley (R) Wilson
Cousins (D)
DISTRICT COURT: PLACE 3
Attorney Pamela Wilson Cousins, the Democratic can-
didate, bring 26 years of experience in family law, making
her “clearly the best and most qualified to serve” in this
Family Court judgeship, according to her website.
She says she will “make sure our children are placed in
safe environments, that child support is calculated cor-
rectly, that parents understand documents they are asked
to sign and that each parent gets its rightful visitation with
their children.”
Republican Davis Lawley has served as a special circuit
judge for the drug court, an assistant district attorney and
an assistant attorney general in the child welfare division.
He ran unopposed in the primary. He has lost a pair of
recent general elections for district court judge, in 2012 and
2014, falling just short with 48 percent and 49 percent of the
vote, respectively.
Jill Thomas
Ganus (R) (i) Thrash (D)
DISTRICT COURT: PLACE 11
Republican incumbent Jill Ganus was appointed to the
seat in October 2017. Before that Ganus served as a district
judge in Jefferson County from 2006 to 2013, where she
was assigned to Family Court. In that position, she dealt
with child abuse and neglect, children in need of supervi-
sion, delinquency cases, contributing to the delinquency of
minors, termination of parental rights and child support.
Democratic challenger Thomas Thrash, an attorney
and retired sergeant from the Birmingham Police Depart-
ment, says his law enforcement experience will help him be
an effective judge.
“I want to devote some time to help the community in
preventive efforts and promote positive decision-making
situations for our youth,” he told Birmingham Watch before
winning a three-way race in the June primary.
Phillip Jackie
Brown (R) Anderson-
Smith (D)
CIRCUIT CLERK
Democratic candidate Jackie Anderson-Smith is a cur-
rent member and former president of the Jefferson County
Board of Education. She hopes to focus on voter registra-
tion.
“One of the critical roles of the clerk’s office is the over-
sight of voter registration and voter education,” she told
Birmingham Watch. “I will work to elevate this platform
through creation of new programs that touch communities
at the grassroots level.”
Republican hopeful Phillip Brown is chairman of the
Alabama Minority GOP’s Birmingham chapter and was
elected in 2012 as the State Chairman of the ALMGOP and is
now serving his third two-year term of office.
A Jefferson County Circuit Court jury ruled Oct. 3 that
Brown was guilty of conspiracy to remove church money
and acting wrongly as a trustee of the Sandusky Church of
Christ. He was also found guilty of libel. Damages against
Brown were assessed at $231,000, according to Circuit
Court records.
Brown said the ruling wouldn’t affect his run for office.
“I plan to run and see what the voters do on Nov. 6,”
Brown said. “We’ll let them decide.”
Eddie Martha
Brown (R) Bouyer (D) (i)
BOARD OF EDUCATION: PLACE 2
Democratic incumbent Martha Bouyer first won elec-
tion to the board in 2014, then re-election in 2016. Her goals
include working to ensure all schools are safe and secure,
increasing the number of pre-K programs and boost student
retention and graduation rate.
Republican challenger Eddie Brown recently retired
as director of support operations for the Jefferson County
Board of Education after 41 years at the board. As an
insider, he says he understands the strengths of the board,
as well as the areas that need attention. He and all three of
his children are graduates of Jefferson County schools.
LOCAL AMENDMENT NO. 1
In 2017, the Homewood School Board and Homewood
City Council passed unanimous resolutions to ask the Leg-
islature to pass a constitutional amendment exempting
Homewood from the Lid Bill, which prevents most cities in
Alabama from adjusting their local ad valorem taxes with-
out legislative approval. The amendment passed earlier
this year and must now be ratified by the voters of Jefferson
County. A “Yes” vote basically removes state control over
Homewood’s tax base, allowing the city to seek an increase
in property tax rates through a citywide referendum. Prop-
erty tax funds go toward the school system. Keep in mind:
This relates only to the city of Homewood, but voters across
Jefferson County still get to vote on it.
SHELBY COUNTY
David Susan
Bobo (R) (i) Lehman (D)
BOARD OF EDUCATION: PLACE 2
Republican David Bobo currently holds the seat. He was
appointed in March 2017 to fill the unexpired term of Kevin
Morris, who was appointed to the Shelby County Commis-
sion.
Bobo earned a degree in communication with an empha-
sis in public relations from the University of Alabama. He
has worked for Jefferson State Community College since
1994 as director of community and media relations.
Democratic challenger Susan Lehman is a Realtor in
Alabaster.
“All of our children deserve someone who will look after
their best interests,” she wrote on her Facebook page.
i: incumbent
— Compiled by Brent Conklin, bconklin@al.com
Sources: AL.com archives, candidate websites and Facebook
pages, Birmingham Watch, Homewood Star, Shelby County
Schools