Cerissa Brown

Cerissa Brown ran for election for Mayor of Birmingham in Alabama. She lost in the general election on August 24, 2021.

Brown completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.

Elections

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

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 36,723
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

To view Brown's endorsements in the 2021 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2021

Ballotpedia survey responses

Cerissa Brown completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Brown's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Cerissa A. Brown has worked in call center customer service for over 21 years. Her last position was Director of Retail and Consumer Engagement. She is also a philanthropist, entrepreneur, mental health advocate, peer counselor, and a voice for the voiceless, especially marginalized communities.

Brown is running for election for Mayor of Birmingham in Alabama. Brown is on the ballot in the general election on August 24, 2021.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Cerissa A. Brown is a servant leader.
Ms. Brown loves the City of Birmingham and all 99 neighborhoods.
Ms. Brown doesn't answer to the elite or the status quo. You never have to worry about her being bought out or compromised.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Ms. Brown is very concerned about bringing servant leadership to city hall, gun violence, economic development, food deserts, and education.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to my Mother. My mother suffered through poverty, divorce, and the loss of 2 children. I never saw her give up she kept going. After my parents first divorced she cleaned houses for $5 an hour just so she could take care of me. And later on in life went back and got 2 degrees. She also has a faith in the Lord that I wish to have one day.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Approachability, the willingness to listen, authenticity, transparency, ability to strategically and organize and plan.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To care about all the people they serve with no prejudice or bias. Everything they do and every decision they make should be for the betterment of the people of Birmingham.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. I was 9 years old and remember being in school and our entire class was so excited.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My very first job was when I was 12 years old at Discovery Zone. It was volunteer work but very much a job. I stayed there until I was 14 and able to get my worker's permit to work a paying job.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

September by Earth, Wind & Fire

A mayor is a leader in his or her city. What does that mean to you?

A mayor should be a servant leader of their city. The mayor should realize that they serve the people and not the other way around. It is not a pleasure to have you as mayor it is an honor that the constituents trusted you enough to vote you in as their mayor.

Mayors have many responsibilities, which vary from city to city. Which of those do you personally consider the most important in your city?

The most important in Birmingham is looking out for all 99 neighborhoods. When focusing on just a couple of neighborhoods it leaves many things lacking in the others.

If the mayor in your city is not a member of the city council and oversees the day-to-day administration of the city government, what do you believe is the ideal relationship between the mayor and city council?

The mayor should partner with the Birmingham City Council and work together as a team. This can only happen by changing the Mayor Council Act so no one person has all the power. The Mayor Council Act has created a dictatorship in the City of Birmingham.

What do you love most about your city?

I love the people and our rich civil rights history.

What do you perceive to be your city's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Repairing the trust that was broken by the current administration. Eradicating food deserts. Bringing more jobs to Birmingham that pay a livable way. Creating a Career Center for Birmingham Residents. And putting more money and resources into our students.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the mayor's office and law enforcement?

I believe the mayor should work closely with law enforcement but also clergy and community leaders should be brought in to assist in making decisions.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Cerissa Brown

Contents

Elections

2021

General election

General election for Mayor of Birmingham

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2021

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2025 Elections

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2024 Election analysis

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