Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 10-11-19

Page Four
Steven Reed Becomes Montgomery, Alabama's First Black Mayor In The City's 200-Year History
Timothy Ragland Is Talladega, Alabama’s First Black Mayor
TIMOTHY RAGLAND
The first Black mayor was elected in Talladega, Alabama, this week by a small margin, re- ports WBRC.
Timothy Ragland (D-AL) beat the incumbent Jerry Cooper in the runoff election and became the city’s youngest mayor at 29 years old. Ragland earned 1014 votes to Cooper’s 991.
Cooper, who is white, served one term as mayor be- fore the election. He defeated Larry Barton, who was previ- ously caught up in a contro-
versy involving sex tapes, re- ports Birmingham News.
"I respect [the people's] thoughts, and what they wanted to do. I love Talladega. I love the people here. And I have helped this city. But the people have spoken," Cooper said.
Ragland told local re-
porters that he’s ready to lead his city.
“It's a great honor that the people of Talladega thought enough of me to allow me to be, to make this a historic run, and I'm so thankful to them, and I can't wait to get to work on be- half of the citizens of Tal- ladega,” Ragland said.
STEVEN REED Photo Credit: Screenshot/ NBC News
The city of Montgomery, Al- abama, has elected the first Black mayor in the city's 200- year history.
Steven Reed won the his- toric election after taking home 67% of the votes Tuesday, de- feating TV station owner David Woods.
According to the New York Times, Reed and Woods bat- tled for the mayor's seat after advancing from a 12-candidate election in August.
“This election has never been about me,” Reed said in his victory speech. “This elec- tion has never been about just my ideas. It’s been about all the hopes and dreams that we have as individuals and collectively in this city.”
PAGE 4-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019