Incumbent Councilman Woodrow Washington Seeks Re-Election in Northport

Incumbent Northport City Councilman Woodrow Washington is seeking re-election to a second term when voters go to the polls tomorrow, August 26th, to choose who will lead the city for the next four years.

Washington was first elected in 2020, when he unseated council president Jay Logan in District 2 in a race decided by 19 votes. The next year, Alabama officials announced that they would extend the terms of almost all city leaders in the state by a year to separate municipal elections from nationwide Presidential races and give voters a break from "election fatigue."

In a Monday call with the Tuscaloosa Thread, Washington said his five-year stint on the council has been a productive extension of a life of public service stretching back decades.

"My service started in 1991 when I joined the United States Air Force - I served four years active duty and 16 years in the reserves, where I retired as a master sergeant," Washington said. "From '96 to 2016, I also worked for Tuscaloosa Fire Rescue Service, where I retired after 20 years as a fire captain. I have worked in my district, coached Little League, and been a community activist for years, pouring back into my city."

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The five-year council term has seen its share of controversies - a battle over the future of the Northport Community Center, the city's permanent loss of the Kentuck Festival of the Arts, the agreement to partner with Texas developers on the $350 million University Beach lagoon resort, and the resignation of former council president Jeff Hogg, to name a few.

Still, Washington said his time in office has been good for District 2 - the people he was elected to represent - and that he has changed both his mind and vote on issues important to his constituents.

"District 2 has received over $99,725,000 worth of funding since I took office. We've had plenty of infrastructure projects, including advancing the infamous Martin Luther King Junior project that has been in the works for a long time," Washington said. "The Boys & Girls Club came back to Northport, and that was a big plus for me. I ran the Robert Hasson Center, but I've always known that building was bigger than me, so I gave it back to the city to house the Boys & Girls Club, and it's at capacity every time I see it now."

Washington also highlighted the improvements made to the Northport Community Center, which was renovated and reopened after the council briefly considered selling it for private development before walking that choice back in the wake of significant citizen backlash.

"With the community center, people were concerned, and people voiced their opinion. And there was a lot of unnecessary heat on both sides, including myself," Washington said.  "But I listen to my constituents. Plenty of folks approached me at the local Piggly Wiggly or gas station, or called me with concerns about the community center. I was trying to work on a brand new community center that would have hopefully overlooked the Black Warrior River on city-owned property, but when the people brought their concerns to our attention, my decision changed to leaving it alone, and finding some money to renovate all our community centers, because if we're going to keep them, we need to invest money back into the building so people can have something they love and want to enjoy that isn't an eyesore."

Washington told the Thread he is seeking another term to continue the work he's done over the last five years on the council and see milestones, including the construction of a new 67,000-square-foot indoor sports facility and a "championship" hotel built at the just-opened River Run Park baseball and softball complex in Washington's district.

"I just want my people in my district to come out and vote, and let's continue the progress," Washington said. "We have a lot of stuff on the horizon and we need to finish it."

The 2025 race isn't precisely a single-issue election, but it's impossible to talk about the elections without bringing up University Beach, which Washington said he supports fully.

"If it was up to me, it would have been on the river, where I felt like it could have been well-received, but it is where it is, and I think it's going to be a great asset to the city of Northport," Washington said. "A lot of my decisions are made for two to three generations behind me. What are we going to have for our kids and their kids to do in Northport? The opportunity for jobs will be there for our kids to have options instead of fast food restaurants or car washes. University Beach is going to bring in 700 job opportunities, it's going to bring the shopping everybody's been looking for, sit-down restaurants, and entertainment. We can't always cross the bridge for those things."

Washington said he'd also like to see conversations start up again about improving the schools in Northport, although not necessarily separating from the Tuscaloosa County School System as was proposed earlier in this council term. He said Northport's schools are among the oldest in TCSS's inventory and need to be significantly renovated or replaced so the city's children can grow and learn in the best environments possible.

Above all, Washington asked that Northport residents just get out and vote - municipal elections typically draw a very small percentage of registered voters, and races can be determined by the slimmest margins.

Northport voters go to the polls on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. Four of five city council seats and the mayor's office are up for election. Check out our coverage hub for those races here.

Any incumbent or challenging candidate seeking coverage on the Thread is invited to reach the editor at stephen.dethrage@townsquaremedia.com.

For updates on those races and more, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.