Northport PAC Nearly Sweeps Municipal Elections, Winning Mayor’s Office and 4 Seats

An anti-establishment, pro-transparency political action committee nearly swept municipal elections in Northport yesterday, with candidates securing the mayor's office and all but one city council seat.

Led by Mayor-Elect Dale Phillips, PAC-backed candidate Turnley Smith also unseated Council President Christy Bobo in District 1, Jaime Conger defeated Karl Wiggins in District 3, and incumbent Jamie Dykes retained her contested seat in District 4. Another NPAC candidate, Danny Higdon, was uncontested in District 5.

Their only loss was in District 2, where incumbent Woodrow Washington won re-election without a runoff in a three-man race.

Get our free mobile app

At a celebration party at Northport's Lost Pizza Co., Phillips told the Thread that his secret to winning the four-candidate mayor's contest was just being receptive to voters he spoke to.

"I listen. That's been the thing the whole time. The people, the citizens, no one felt like their leaders would listen," Mayor-elect Phillips told the Thread. "We listened and we worked hard. We haven't made any promises about specific things that we're going to fix or do, but we promised we would listen, we have listened, and here we are. This win tonight is huge. The fact that so many council seats flipped over is huge. The fact that we won the mayor's race with 63 percent of the vote says volumes, sending us into City Hall with a clear message, and we're ready to go to work."

Phillips said the PAC was a major advantage for its members as they adopted a unified front based on responsible growth, transparency and citizen input. He also thanked his sons, Ryan and Brad.

"It made it easier. We all helped each other, we all worked together, we all fed off of each other," Phillips said. "When one of us was down, everybody else came in and lifted them up. It's just been a big night. I can't thank my boys enough for everything they've done and all the help they've given me during this race."

Phillips said as the results came in, so did messages from other local leaders congratulating him and the other victors. He told the Thread he looks forward to collaborating with them in the near future.

"We're going to start working tomorrow," he said. "I've said all along that we had to rebuild partnerships with some of our neighbors around us in other agencies and other government, and we're going to start doing that tomorrow. I'm going to start reaching out to some of those people and trying to rebuild those partnerships."

Congratulations to all candidates for races well run, thanks to all who spent time talking with the Thread ahead of Tuesday's elections, and to all who have read our coverage of the campaigns. With no runoffs necessary, election season is finally over in Northport.

For ongoing coverage of City Hall when Phillips and the new council take office and for other news from around west Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.