Mobile City Councilwoman Connie Hudson planned to formally announce her candidacy in the Republican primary for the vacant District 2 seat on the Mobile County Commission, with an event scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 2, at the Mobile Regional Senior Community Center.
Hudson would join a field that formed within days of the resignation of Commissioner Steve Nodine, whose departure from office set a special election for July 13.
Nine years on the council
An active community figure in Mobile for more than 30 years, Hudson has served nine years on the Mobile City Council representing District 6, which takes in much of the city’s western and southwestern neighborhoods.
She framed her candidacy around a record she said left no doubt where she stood.
“I have the voting track record that won’t leave you guessing where I stand on important issues like raising sales taxes without a vote of the people,” Hudson said. “I’m consistent in my principles and convictions.”
The reference to sales taxes was pointed. Tax increases adopted without a public referendum had become a recurring flashpoint in Mobile city and county politics, and a candidate’s position on them functioned as a shorthand test of conservative credentials in Republican primaries of that era.
Economic development record
During her council tenure, Hudson took part in economic development efforts that helped the Mobile area land two of the largest industrial projects in its modern history: the ThyssenKrupp steel plant in north Mobile County and the Austal USA shipbuilding facility on the Mobile River. Both were pursued through multi-government incentive packages, and both were still ramping up in 2010.
Hudson also spearheaded the construction initiative that produced the Mobile Regional Senior Community Center in 2002 — the same building she chose for her announcement. She has consistently identified public safety, public services and infrastructure improvements as core government responsibilities.
Her Republican credentials included membership in the Azalea City Republican Women and the Mobile County Republican Executive Committee, and she was a member-elect of the State Republican Executive Committee.
A crowded, compressed race
The special election to fill the remaining term of Steve Nodine, who resigned the week before, was set for July 13 — the same day as statewide primary runoffs. Ralph Buffkin, an administrator in the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, and Pete Riehm, a commercial realtor and conservative organizer making his first run for office, had also announced.
District 2 covers a broad and rapidly changing part of Mobile County, running from portions of the city out through the western suburbs toward Semmes. Growth just outside the city limits had shifted the district’s balance in recent years, giving unincorporated county residents a larger share of the vote than they once held.
What was at stake
The Mobile County Commission has only three members, which means the District 2 commissioner is never more than one vote away from controlling the outcome of any question before the body. With the county facing budget shortfalls, deferred infrastructure work, and the first economic shocks from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, whoever won the seat would arrive with immediate and consequential decisions to make.
The Mobile Regional Senior Community Center is located at 3201 Hillcrest Road.