Longtime Tuskegee Mayor Johnny Ford loses re-election bid

Tuskegee Hills will have a new mayor.

City councilman Tony Haygood won the Aug. 23 municipal election with 62 percent — 1,401 votes to 865 — over longtime incumbent Johnny Ford.

Haygood currently serves as the city’s councilman at large and mayor pro tem.

As the new mayor, he says he wants to work on financial stability, revitalizing downtown, strengthening the relationship between the city and Tuskegee University, and make sure the city will be financially stable.

Outgoing mayor Ford was first elected mayor of Tuskegee in 1972 and has served in the office for 32 of the last 44 years. He also served as a state representative.

“I would like to thank all of my faithful supporters, volunteers, and all of the citizens of Tuskegee who voted for me, and who worked so hard to allow us to finish the job that we have begun moving Tuskegee forward,” said Ford. “I am proud of, and grateful for, the opportunity that I have had to serve Tuskegee as mayor through the years.

“I congratulate Mayor Pro tem Lawrence ‘Tony’ Haygood, on his victory, and wish him the best as the mayor of historic Tuskegee, Alabama, the home of Tuskegee University, ‘The Pride of the Swift Growing South.'”