Tommy Battle

Battle announced his mayoral candidacy against incumbent Loretta Spencer on March 26, 2008. Battle's policies were fiscal responsibility, a streamlined government that supported free enterprise, economic development, education, and creating jobs. In his campaign, he sharply attacked Spencer on several issues. Among these were cost overruns and delays on a city jail constructed in Spencer's term, the city's controversial involvement in the relocation of a downtown rescue mission into a residential neighborhood, and what Battle claimed was inequitable treatment of some city neighborhoods, particularly minority areas.[7] Prior to the first round of voting, Spencer was endorsed by The Huntsville Times.[8] The Committee of 100, a group of businesspeople, issued a joint endorsement of Battle and Spencer.[9]

In the municipal election on August 26, 2008, Spencer led Battle by 14,871 votes to 14,486. However, two minor candidates received 673 votes, preventing Spencer from attaining a majority, forcing a runoff with Battle.[10] During the runoff campaign, Battle sharpened his attacks on Spencer, and pointed to a "bridge to nowhere". The bridge in question was constructed by the city, and ended at an undeveloped empty lot. Spencer claimed the lot was expected to be developed at some point in the future.[11] In the runoff, on October 7, 2008, Battle decisively defeated Spencer, by a vote of 21,123 votes or 56 percent for Battle, to 16,821 or 44 percent for Spencer.[12]

Battle swept the polls in the mayoral election of 2012. On August 28, 2012, he beat out Loretta Spencer and Jackie Reed by gaining 81 percent of the vote, the largest margin of victory in a Huntsville mayoral election to date. The voting results were as follows:[13]

• Battle: 22,838 (80.7%)
• Spencer: 4,312 (15.2%)
• Reed: 1,159 (4.1%)

He won convincingly in all 44 precincts citywide. Notable victories at specific locations include:[14]

• Willowbrook Baptist Church in Jones Valley, Battle had 1,515 votes to Spencer's 366 and Reed's 56.
• Cove United Methodist Church in Hampton Cove, Battle had 931 votes to Spencer's 161. Spencer had won that box in the 2008 mayoral runoff.
• Oakwood University Church, Battle had 940 votes to Spencer's 135 and Reed's 64.
• Monte Sano Fire Station precinct, where Spencer voted herself, sided with Battle with 347 votes to Spencer's 90 and Reed's 13.

Battle's successful campaign preached deliverance through the current recession while maintaining a balanced budget. Athens State University political science professor Jess Brown said Battle had a "boyish, quasi-Andy Griffith" charm that appealed to voters.[15] Battle considered the overwhelming margin "a validation that we as a city are starting to come together, and that we have a good foundation."

On September 23, 2015, Battle posted a statement confirming his running for a third term as mayor in 2016.[16]

Battle later won against his opponents, with over 80% of the votes cast for him.[6]

2020 election

On August 25, 2020, Battle won reelection with 77.65% of the vote.[17]

Since Battle first took office in 2008, Huntsville has seen unprecedented job creation. In his 2015 State of the City address, Battle announced the addition of over 9,000 jobs during his second term. These opportunities were the result of many investments from major companies such as GE Aviation, Polaris Industries, and the Remington Outdoor Company. To name a few:

• GE Aviation announced it would be investing $200 million to construct two advanced manufacturing plants to employ 300 highly skilled workers.[18]
• Remington constructed a $110 million plant that has pledged to add over 2,000 in a decade.[19]
• Polaris Industries built a 505-acre facility that will have added over 1,170 jobs by 2021. Polaris stated they will be investing over $142 million on the new Huntsville campus.[20]

The Associated General Contractors of America announced in February 2016 that the Huntsville metro was among the fastest-growing in the nation in 2015 with the addition of 1,400 new jobs between December 2014 and December 2015.[21] "We have a great deal to celebrate. In the past five years, this team has created 15,000 new jobs and over $2 billion in capital investment and we are not done yet," Battle clarified in his address.[18]

During his second term, Battle, working with the State of Alabama, began the Restore Our Roads campaign and received a $250 million roads package designed to pay for necessary roadwork as well as increase economic development. In order to help fund the development further, a one-cent sales tax increase was proposed by Battle. The city council unanimously approved the increase and Huntsville saw the $453 million construction project grow to fruition.[18]

On February 22, 2016, Battle announced that Google Fiber was coming to Huntsville. "If you're going to have a high-tech community," Battle said, "if you're going to be able to address the new workforce that's out there, you're going to have a lot of people who want to work from home – mothers and fathers with children, biotech people – who are going to need high-speed Internet service."[22] The service, made available to some customers by early 2018, is handled through Huntsville Utilities.[23]

Battle saw the need to modernize Huntsville's public transportation by inviting Uber into the city. For a while, there was much back and forth between the company and the city, with general manager of regional expansion Billy Guernier stating that Uber's service was not to be lumped in with standard taxi services and that there was too much red tape.[24] After working with the city government, Battle rewrote the vehicle for hire ordinance that had kept Uber wary of adding Huntsville to its list and saw the successful integration of the service in 2016. Battle was quoted as saying, "Citizens and business travelers enjoy having transportation options". Ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft "offer convenient alternatives for people on the go."[25][26]

In the hotly-contested December 2017 special election for the Senate, Battle endorsed former State Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore, stating "As a Republican, we were going to support whoever the Republican party nominated during our primary. The Republicans nominated Roy Moore."[27][28]

Working together with leaders across North Alabama, Battle has helped to create more than 20,000 new jobs for the region. His collaborative approach to economic development has built partnerships with Blue Origin, Polaris, GE Aviation, and many others, and he led the recruitment effort of Mazda-Toyota to Huntsville. Creating advanced manufacturing jobs with those companies is building an Alabama workforce that is qualified and prepared to lead Alabama into the 21st Century.[29]

Battle’s fiscally conservative policies have had a greater than $2.5 billion impact on the local economy, led his city to 11-straight Triple-A credit ratings, created a pay-as-you-go system to build or repair more than $500m in roads, and delivered balanced budgets every year he’s held the office.[29]

Full Article: 2018 Alabama gubernatorial election

After his re-election in August 2012, Battle was questioned by many on the topic of seeking the higher office of governor. During this time, Battle made it clear that his main focus was Huntsville and taking care of his city first and foremost. Battle announced on January 14, 2012, that he would not be a candidate for governor in 2014.[30]"There's a lot of things on the plate for the City of Huntsville right now. That's the job that I was elected for and elected to do, so we're looking at that and seeing if the other fits in," he said. "But priority number one is being mayor of the City of Huntsville."[31]

On April 27, 2017, Battle announced that he would run in the 2018 gubernatorial election in the state of Alabama, running as a Republican. Battle is quoted as saying "We're not just in a battle for Alabama's values; we're in a battle for Alabama's future; I'm running for governor because I'm ready to lead that fight." On June 5, 2018, Battle lost the Republican primary, coming in second behind incumbent Kay Ivey.