Richard Henry Wants to Replace Crow on Tuscaloosa City Council

While no date has been set for a special election by the Tuscaloosa City Council, the now vacant seat in Council District 3 is already drawing interest. The first person to announce his candidacy to fill the seat left empty by the election of former councilman Norman Crow to Alabama House District 63 on Tuesday is businessman Richard Henry.

A lifelong Tuscaloosa resident, Henry graduated from Tuscaloosa City Schools. He is married to his wife, Jana, and their two children, Sally and Thomas, also attend Tuscaloosa City Schools.

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Henry earned a degree in Building Science from Auburn University in 2006 and is also a graduate of the 2013 Leadership Tuscaloosa class.

Henry entered the property management field in 2008, and as a developer, he was involved in the transformation of the once blighted Master's Inn Motel into affordable, short-term studio apartments. The property had a troubled past with numerous police calls to the property.

Henry is the owner of the commercial real estate firm Right Space. He is the past president of the Tuscaloosa Association of Realtors (TAR) and currently serves on the Executive Board for both TAR and the Home Builders Association of Tuscaloosa. He also sits on the city's Riverfront Advisory Committee.

In 2018, Henry was named to Tuscaloosa’s "40 under 40" list, an annual recognition honoring 40 influential young professionals (under age 40) in the Tuscaloosa County area for their leadership, community involvement, and professional achievements.

Henry was also involved in the request to the city to convert 23 of Springbrook’s existing lots into a four-building, 44,000-square-foot retail center between Albright Road and Seventh Avenue East.

State law requires a council to call a special election within 30 days of a vacancy; the election is then held 60 to 90 days after the council's call.

UPDATE: The election date has been set for April 14th, 2026.