Randall Woodfin

Randall Woodfin

Nonpartisan

Mayor of Birmingham

Tenure

2017 - Present

Term ends

2025

Years in position

7

Predecessor

William A. Bell

Prior offices

Birmingham City Schools District 5

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Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

August 26, 2025

Education

Bachelor's

Morehouse College

Law

Samford University

Personal

Profession

Political Consultant

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal website

Personal LinkedIn

Randall Woodfin is the Mayor of Birmingham in Alabama. Woodfin assumed office on November 28, 2017.

Woodfin ran for re-election for Mayor of Birmingham in Alabama. Woodfin won in the general election on August 26, 2025.

While mayoral elections in Birmingham are nonpartisan, Woodfin is affiliated with the Democratic Party.

Woodfin was the state director for Hillary Clinton (D)'s presidential campaign in Alabama in 2016. He was the District 5 representative on the Birmingham City School Board in Alabama. He was elected on August 27, 2013.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Woodfin earned a bachelor's degree from Morehouse College and law degree from Samford University. Woodfin served as an appointee to the Mayor's Office Division of Youth Services and the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity. His professional experience also includes working as a political consultant for local, state, and national candidates throughout the Southeast.

Elections

2025

See also: Mayoral election in Birmingham, Alabama (2025)

General election

General election for Mayor of Birmingham

The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Birmingham on August 26, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Randall Woodfin (Nonpartisan)	74.9	24,559
		Lashunda Scales (Nonpartisan)	14.6	4,781
		Juandalynn Givan (Nonpartisan)	4.3	1,395
		Frank Woodson (Nonpartisan)	3.0	999
	Submit photo	Brian Rice (Nonpartisan)	2.0	650
		Jerimy Littlepage (Nonpartisan)	0.6	189
	Submit photo	Kamau Afrika (Nonpartisan)	0.3	106
	Submit photo	David Russell (Nonpartisan)	0.2	71
	Submit photo	Marilyn James-Johnson (Nonpartisan)	0.2	52

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. Source	Total votes: 32,802
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Woodfin in this election.

2021

See also: Mayoral election in Birmingham, Alabama (2021)

General election

General election for Mayor of Birmingham

The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Birmingham on August 24, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Randall Woodfin (Nonpartisan)	64.3	23,624
		Lashunda Scales (Nonpartisan)	20.8	7,627
		William A. Bell (Nonpartisan)	9.1	3,356
		Chris Woods (Nonpartisan)	4.3	1,563
		Cerissa Brown (Nonpartisan)	0.6	237
		Philemon Hill (Nonpartisan)	0.4	149
	Submit photo	Darryl Williams (Nonpartisan)	0.3	120
	Submit photo	Napoleon Gonzalez (Nonpartisan)	0.1	47

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 36,723
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2017

See also: Mayoral election in Birmingham, Alabama (2017)

The city of Birmingham, Alabama, held elections for mayor and city council on August 22, 2017. A runoff was held on October 3, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was July 7, 2017.

Randall L. Woodfin defeated incumbent William A. Bell Sr. in the Mayor of Birmingham runoff election.

Mayor of Birmingham, Runoff Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Randall L. Woodfin	58.95%	24,922
William A. Bell Incumbent	41.05%	17,357
Total Votes		42,279
Source: City of Birmingham, "General Municipal Runoff Results," October 10, 2017

The following candidates ran in the Mayor of Birmingham general election.

Mayor of Birmingham, General Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Randall L. Woodfin	40.84%	15,668
William A. Bell Incumbent	36.56%	14,025
Chris Woods	18.14%	6,961
Frank Matthews	1.39%	532
Patricia Bell	0.69%	264
Randy Davis	0.67%	256
Philemon Hill	0.53%	205
Fernandez Sims	0.44%	170
Trudy Hunter	0.43%	165
Carl Jackson	0.13%	50
Lanny Jackson	0.11%	41
Donald Lomax	0.08%	29
Total Votes		38,366
Source: City of Birmingham, "General Election Results," August 29, 2017

2013

Woodfin ran for the District 5 seat on the board that was held by Emanuel B. Ford. He ran against fellow challenger Martha Casey McDowell and the election took place August 27, 2013.

Election results

Birmingham City Schools, District 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Randall L. Woodfin	70.4%	1,821
	Nonpartisan	Martha Casey McDowell	29.6%	766
Total Votes				2,587
Source: Birmingham Office of the City Clerk, "City Election - August 27, 2013," accessed August 28, 2013 These results are unofficial and not certified. They will be updated once certified results are available.

2009

Woodfin lost his bid for the District 3 seat up for election on August 25, 2009. He faced fellow challengers Elisa Burns-Macon, Bob Friedman and Brian Giattina for the open seat.

Birmingham City School Board, District 3, 2009
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Brian Giattina	45.9%	1,762
	Nonpartisan	Elisa Burns-Macon	26.7%	1,026
	Nonpartisan	Randall Woodfin	17.7%	678
	Nonpartisan	Bob Friedman	9.7%	371
Total Votes				3,837

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Randall Woodfin did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

2021

Randall Woodfin did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

2017

Woodfin's website highlighted the following campaign themes:

Transportation infrastructure

• Excerpt: "Birmingham needs a balanced transportation system that not only moves cars but that also provides viable transit options for Birmingham residents and encourages walkability and bikeability."

Public safety

• Excerpt: "As your Mayor, I will work every day to ensure that every neighborhood in Birmingham is safe and secure. To accomplish that goal, Birmingham needs a comprehensive strategy for reducing crime and enhancing the safety of all of our citizens. Our city government needs to invest all of the resources necessary to make neighborhoods safer, support first responders, and address the root causes of crime."

Opportunity

• Excerpt: "A downtown that has attracted virtually all of the Mayor’s attention the past seven years and the rest of Birmingham looking for more leadership from the Mayor’s Office to create opportunities for our residents, our students and our small businesses. City Hall has to play an active role in creating opportunities for all Birmingham residents and creating an environment where our small businesses can thrive."

Neighborhood revitilzation

• Excerpt: "Spot development projects and election-year neighborhood clean-up efforts are not a substitute for a comprehensive vision for meeting the needs of all of our neighborhoods. Birmingham needs a Mayor that is committed to neighborhood revitalization every year – not just when there’s an election."

Trust in city hall

• Excerpt: "Opening City Hall up to everyone and repairing the broken relationships between the Mayor’s Office and the City Council and other local, regional and state stakeholders will be one of my top priorities as Mayor."

Inslusivity

• Excerpt: "The next Administration must act on behalf of all Birmingham residents, and as Mayor, I would commit to a four-part inclusion agenda that would ensure that every Birmingham resident has a voice in City Hall and is protected against discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and housing."

2013

In an interview with The Birmingham Times, Woodfin highlighted his campaign themes for 2013:

Click [show] on the right to see Woodfin's 2013 campaign themes.

Board behavior "Key factors to re-establishing the reputation of the Birmingham School System rest in returning the Board back to its intended function. How Board Members conduct themselves during School Board meetings, how they interact with each other, and whether they resist the urge to micromanage the School System will all go a long way in restoring confidence in our system." Financial management "We need school board members who can establish relationships and partnerships in the community and leverage financial and human capital to offset what our tax dollars are not providing for our students and school system." Student success "How do we define success for our school system? It is measured by students’ success, and their success is hinged on policies, administrative, and financial decisions being made in the students’ best interest; policies that include keeping the fine arts and alternative choices within our schools; administrative solutions that tackle disciplinary issues instead of arresting our students for non-criminal behavior; and financial decisions that take our students into consideration first."

Endorsements

2017

Woodfin received the following endorsements in 2017:

• Grassroots Coalition
• Birmingham Professional Firefighters Association
• Birmingham Local Chapter of National Letter Carriers Association
• Our Revolution
• Former mayoral candidate Chris Woods

Noteworthy events

Tested positive for coronavirus on December 30, 2020

See also: Politicians, candidates, and government officials diagnosed with or quarantined due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Coronavirus pandemic
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On December 30, 2020, Woodfin's office announced he had tested positive for coronavirus.

Events and activity following the death of George Floyd

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

Woodfin was mayor of Birmingham during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Birmingham, Alabama, began on Saturday, May 30, 2020, at Kelly Ingram Park. No curfews were issued over the weekend. The national guard was not deployed.

To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right.

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers arrested Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a White officer, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs. Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident. The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process." On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in relation to Floyd's death. Floyd's death was filmed and shared widely, leading to activity regarding racism, civil rights, and police use of force. The first events took place in Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 26. An event in Chicago organized by Chance the Rapper and Rev. Michael Pfleger took place the same day, making it the first major city outside of Minneapolis to host an event in response to Floyd's death.

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by William A. Bell	Mayor of Birmingham 2017-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Birmingham City Schools District 5 2013-2017	Succeeded by -