Patricia Todd
Patricia Todd (born July 25, 1955) is the Director of Development for AIDS Alabama and the former Executive Director of Birmingham AIDS Outreach. She is the Secretary of the Crestwood South Neighborhood Association. She founded the Alabama Stonewall Democrats and was elected as a delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
Todd grew up in Richmond, Kentucky, graduating from the Model High School in that city. She earned her Bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Kentucky. She moved to Birmingham in 1986 and assumed the Directorship of Birmingham AIDS Outreach. She earned her Master's degree from UAB in public administration. She has also served as the program director for the Central Alabama Women's Business Center and worked with the Alabama Humanities Foundation and the National Organization for Women. In 1998 she was named UAB's Director of Alumni Affairs. She ran a computer training business called One on One for a while, as well.
In the 1986 gubernatorial campaign she served as a field coordinator for Bill Baxley and was a delegate for John Kerry's 2004 presidential bid.
2006 election
Todd is a 2006 Democratic candidate for the seat being vacated by George Perdue in the Alabama House of Representatives District 54. According to campaign material her platform issues included strengthening neighborhood associations, health care access, community programs, cultural funding, mass transit, public education, and state constitutional reform/home rule.
She won the most votes in the primary election on June 6, 2006 and faced Gaynell Hendricks in a runoff. After the primary she won endorsements from defeated opponents Kamau Afrika and Charlie L. Williams, Jr, both of whom stated that they were looking beyond race to endorse the candidate whose platform most closely fit their concerns.
The result of the runoff was an apparent win for Todd with a narrow margin of only 59 votes of the 2,287 cast. After a week of studying the results, Hendrick's mother-in-law, Mattie Childress, filed a contest with the state Democratic Party, alleging improper ballot-handling procedures and noting Todd's filing of financial information after the runoff showing a large and potentially controversial deposit from the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and payments for "consulting" to Afrika and Williams.
On August 24, a Democratic party subcommittee heard Hendricks' revised challenge. Most of the issues named in the initial contest were retracted, leaving as the sole issue a 1970s party by-law requiring financial information to be submitted to the party chairman five days prior to the election. For all practical purposes, the by-law was superceded by the 1988 Fair Campaign Practices Act and had not been followed by any candidate running for any office since 1988. The subcommittee, in a surprising decision, voted 5-0 to disqualify Todd. Their enforcement of the rule would have also disqualified every Democratic candidate in the state since 1988 when the by-law was superceded, including the party's current candidate for Governor, but, since the other elections had been certified, no other candidate would be disqualified.
The State Democratic Executive Committee voted on August 26, largely along racial lines, to overturn the subcommittee's ruling. Therefore, Todd has been certified as the Democratic candidate for the office and, barring a successful write-in campaign in the general election, will become the first openly gay member of the Alabama house.
References
- Shuler, Roger. (Summer 1998) "Campus Spotlight: Patricia Todd" UAB Magazine. Vol. 18, No. 3. [1] - accessed May 7, 2006
- Coman, Victoria L. (July 23, 2006) "District 54 candidate Todd gains backing of 2 former foes." Birmingham News.
- Johnson, Bob (August 25, 2006) "Panel disqualifies both District 54 candidates." Birmingham News.
- Johnson, Bob (August 26, 2006) "Alabama Democrats reinstate gay candidate for Legislature." Birmingham News.
External links
- Elect Patricia Todd website