Several key elections across the nation on Tuesday set the stage for a trio of historic mayoral wins for Black candidates. Dr. Karen Weaver (pictured) of Flint. Mich., Paula Hicks-Hudson of Toledo, Ohio, and Ed Johnson of Fayetteville, Ga. all made history in their respective elections.
Dr. Weaver, a clinical psychologist and businesswoman, was an unlikely victor, as she is a political newbie. Still, she was able to defeat incumbent Dayne Walling running on a platform of transparency and exposing the outgoing mayor’s political mishaps regarding the city’s water supply. The 56-year-old Michigan State University graduate is the first woman elected in Flint’s history. The late Floyd J. McCree broke the city’s race barrier in the mayor’s seat back in 1966.
Toledo now boasts its first Black woman to be elected as mayor. Hicks-Hudson, the president of Toledo’s City Council, was the acting mayor, but was appointed to the post after the sudden death of D. Michael Collins. Hicks-Hudson defeated seven candidates in her win, including Collins’ widow and a pair former mayors. Hicks-Hudson attended Spelman College, Colorado State University, and University of Iowa College of Law.
A former councilman and mayor pro-tem, Johnson made two significant marks as the first Black mayor of Fayetteville and the first Black mayor of any city in Fayette County. Johnson is a former Navy commander who also led the local chapter of the NAACP as president. In 2012, he was just the second Black person elected to office in the county when he won his council seat. Johnson is also the pastor of Flat Rock AME, the oldest Black church in the county.
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