A Black man elected mayor of an Alabama town says white residents conspired to hold a secret election to unseat him: lawsuit
Patrick Braxton, 57, says he was elected mayor of Newbern, Alabama in 2020.
According to a lawsuit, white officials conspired to hold a secret election to remove Braxton.
Newbern's population is around 80% Black and 20% white, court documents say.
A Black man in Newbern, Alabama who won his town's election for mayor is now suing the town's current mayor, saying he conspired to hold a special election to keep himself in power.
Patrick Braxton, 57, is one of several plaintiffs in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against the city's current mayor and other city officials. The other plaintiffs are people who Braxton planned to appoint after taking office, according to CBS.
The lawsuit was filed in Southern Alabama District Court on April 14.
Braxton said in the lawsuit that Mayor Woodburn "Woody" Stokes — who is white — conspired with other officials to hide the date that Braxton needed to submit his paperwork by to run for mayor.
According to the lawsuit, Newbern is a "small municipality" in Hale County, Alabama that with a population that is 80% Black and 20% white, according to the lawsuit.
According to Braxton, he was the only person to submit paperwork to run for mayor of Newbern by July 16, 2020, the deadline for the 2020 mayoral election. Woodburn filed his paperwork for intent to run on July 18, 2020, two days after the deadline, Braxton says in court documents viewed by Insider.
Braxton also said all of the city council members at the time registered their paperwork to run late as well.
According to the lawsuit, the city council was informed in August 2020 that Braxton was the incoming lawful mayor, but the city council called a special undisclosed meeting, where it passed a city resolution creating a new election and moving the deadline to file for candidacy back.
"Defendants did not inform any of the public or citizens of the City of the election," the lawsuit says. "In fact, the Defendants intentionally concealed the deadlines so that they could claim they were the only candidates for Mayor and City Councilman to file candidacy papers."
Braxton says in the lawsuit that the second election never took place, and no one knew about it until Braxton discovered the discarded meeting minutes in the City Hall. In the minutes, a councilman introduces a resolution announcing that Braxton is the mayor which passes unanimously, but Woody then says that Braxton's election was a "mistake" and needed to be rectified through a new election, the lawsuit says
Newbern officials did not immediately return Insider's request for comment on Sunday.
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