1953 Birmingham municipal election

The 1953 Birmingham municipal election was held to fill three four-year terms on the Birmingham City Commission. As with most elections of the time, the only competitive campaigning was done for the Democratic Party primary. 45% of the city's 70,000 or so registered and poll-tax paying citizens voted.

Results

Commissioner of Public Improvements

• Wade Bradley, 8,026 votes
• Jabo Waggoner, 7,988 votes

Waggoner had initially been reported as the winner by 169 votes (8,275 to 8,106), but Bradley was declared the victor after the Jefferson County Democratic Committee ordered a recount. Waggoner later claimed to have been informed that the returns from two Inglenook boxes were tampered with during the recount.

References

• Nunnelly, William A. (1991) Bull Connor. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press ISBN 0817304959
• Harris, W. Edward (2004) Miracle in Birmingham: A Civil Rights Memoir, 1954-1965. New York, New York: Indianapolis, Indiana: Stonework Press. ISBN 9780963886477