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Voters To Decide Today Between Travis Hendrix, Sylvia Swayne in Hotly Contested Jeffco Runoff Election

The Birmingham Times The two Democratic candidates in today’s Oct. 24 runoff in House District 55 have had their say. Now voters in the district which encompasses parts of Birmingham, including UAB/Southside, the West End, and Fairfield will have theirs. The polls open at 7 a.m. Travis Hendrix, a 40-year-old Birmingham police sergeant, received 670 […]
The post Voters To Decide Today Between Travis Hendrix, Sylvia Swayne in Hotly Contested Jeffco Runoff Election first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

1 year ago

December 5, 2023

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Travis Hendrix, left, and Sylvia Swayne and candidates for the Jefferson County House District 55 seat.

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The Birmingham Times

The two Democratic candidates in today’s Oct. 24 runoff in House District 55 have had their say. Now voters in the district which encompasses parts of Birmingham, including UAB/Southside, the West End, and Fairfield will have theirs.

The polls open at 7 a.m.

Travis Hendrix, a 40-year-old Birmingham police sergeant, received 670 votes, or 27.91 percent, in the special election last month. Sylvia Swayne, a 26-year-old customer service manager, received 515 votes, or 21.45 percent.

Turnout in the general election was dismal with just about 3,140 of the 25,000 registered voters participating.

“A lot of people just don’t understand how important our local elections are because these are the elections that affect our daily lives,” Hendrix said as he canvassed a neighborhood in Fairfield. “It’s my job to remind people to engage in these local elections.”

Sylvia Swayne, 26, a quality assurance manager, said her interest in social justice took off in high school in the wake of the Ferguson protests in 2014.

Swayne, if elected, would be the first transgender representative elected to the Alabama House.

At the University of Alabama, she co-chaired the Students for Fair Labor’s Collective Liberation Caucus, participated in sit-ins to object to Milo Yiannopoulos, who was invited to speak at the university, and to demand the expulsion of Ryan Parrish, a UA student who was arrested after a racially charged threat on Facebook.

“At the end of the day, I’ve done a lot of work in terms of civic engagement, community service and social justice,” Swayne said. “That’s what ultimately led to me wanting to run for office — just seeing so many bills being introduced that distract us from the issues that face the everyday Alabamian.”

With no Republican opponent in the general election in January, the winner of the runoff will most likely become the representative-elect for the district, which includes parts of Birmingham and Fairfield.

Talk of race and gender identity exploded on Birmingham talk radio in recent days has exploded as callers and hosts debate and make cases for their preferred candidates.

District 55 has a 70 percent Black majority, and a victory for Swayne would change the area’s racial representation for the first time in decades.

Still, both candidates said they preferred to have conversations on issues affecting the district, rather than gender or race.

“I’m for all people. It doesn’t matter what you look like, what status you are, or what gender you are,” Hendrix said.

He renounced personal attacks against Swayne, including a flier that attacked her gender identity.

“I don’t care about anything but making sure that District 55 has the representation that it needs so we can all be successful, and we can all have a better quality of life,” Hendrix said. “Quality of life is on the ballot.”

Swayne in recent days also took to the airwaves to present her platform and answer questions regarding her commitment to serving what is a largely Black constituency.

“I’m one person just like any candidate in the election. I can’t represent every single person in the district, but I can work alongside folks in the district and make sure that the people are prioritized over all else,” Swayne said. “My identity is only a distraction from the issues that face District 55 and I’m ready to talk about the issues and face the issues.”

The two candidates broadly agree on issues, with both seeing a need for infrastructure investments in the district.

Medicaid Expansion

Medicaid expansion would be a top issue for both.

Hendrix said that as a police officer, he’s seen many Alabamians without health insurance. Hendrix also said he has seen people with gunshot or knife wounds at emergency departments who rack up thousands of dollars in hospital bills. Those bills are a big setback for those individuals, who may not be able to pay. When those bills go unpaid, hospitals absorb the costs.

“That’s why I say expanding healthcare and making it affordable to people — like different plans — kind of make it affordable to different ages so that they can be able to afford health care,” Hendrix said.

Swayne said that Alabama needed to expand Medicaid “yesterday,” but she said she would take a more behind-the-scenes approach by being a conversation starter. Medicaid expansion is a partisan issue, she said, but it doesn’t have to be when 70 percent of Alabamians support Medicaid expansion, according to an Alabama Arise poll.

“When we talk about Medicaid expansion, we can’t convince a Republican to get on board with that — because we believe that health care is a right. That’s not the language,” she said. “You talk about the economic benefits. You talk about the ways that if 200 to 300,000 more Alabamians have access to health care, think about the amount of people who can go to work.”

Education

On education, Swayne said legislators could have used the record-breaking surplus in the Education Trust Fund (ETF) to reinvest in struggling public schools, but instead, she pointed to SB202, filed by Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, a bill — passed out of committee but did not come to a floor vote — that would have diverted $864 million from the ETF towards private or home schooling.

“I do not believe that public funds — taxpayer dollars — should be going to private institutions,” she said. “I am not opposed to the existence of private schools, but they are private for a reason. They have to be self-funded. You cannot use public money on private schools.”

Charter schools, being public schools, should be more accessible to low-income communities, she said. Those schools may lack buses, for example, and transportation could be a challenge for needy families.

“If we’re going to invest in charter schools, we have to make sure the charter schools are actually accessible for students,” she said.

Hendrix said that if it’s a public school, he supports it.

“I know parents have the right and the choice to decide where they want to send their kid to school. I think as long as they get their education and continue to be productive citizens throughout the state of Alabama. So, that’s it, and that’s what I care about,” Hendrix said.

Infrastructure

Hendrix also supports more infrastructure projects. He said it’s hard to attract businesses, and most places just need some lifting up, he said. Other places need more immediate help with things like street signs. He said that could be the difference that allows an emergency service to get to a house on time.

“Some street signs are knocked down, so you have to look on the house or on your phone and see what street that you’re on,” he said.

Swayne said that the state needs to invest in public transportation in the district. She said that she does not have a bus stop in her neighborhood, but that’s not the city of Birmingham’s fault.

“That’s because we don’t invest in public transportation at the state level. We have a 1952 constitutional amendment that prohibits us from using revenue from gas taxes on anything but roads and bridges. We’ve had a public transportation trust fund since 2018, and we don’t put money into it,” she said. “We need to come up with solutions that serve the people of the district and the people of the state.”

Hendrix raised $40,310 and spent $35,153 as of Sept. 30. Hendrix has accepted $25,496 in from seven PACs, with Alabama Works PAC being the largest donor at $9,254.

Swayne has raised $81,175 and spent $49,987 as of Oct. 13. Sylvia accepted money from LPAC only, a political action committee supporting LBGTQ+ candidates.

Tuesday’s special election will fill the seat left vacant when former Rep. Fred Plump resigned in May after pleading guilty to charges in a federal corruption case.

Plump was a freshman representative who served less than a year before a kickback scandal ended his political career.

The Alabama Reflector and AL.com contributed to this post

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

The post Voters To Decide Today Between Travis Hendrix, Sylvia Swayne in Hotly Contested Jeffco Runoff Election first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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Fighting to Keep Blackness

BlackPressUSA NEWSWIRE — Trump supporters have introduced another bill to take down the bright yellow letters of Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., in exchange for the name Liberty Plaza. D.C.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 7, 2025

Oakland Post

By April Ryan

As this nation observes the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, the words of President Trump reverberate. “This country will be WOKE no longer”, an emboldened Trump offered during his speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. Since then, Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell posted on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter this morning that “Elon Musk and his DOGE bros have ordered GSA to sell off the site of the historic Freedom Riders Museum in Montgomery.” Her post of little words went on to say, “This is outrageous and we will not let it stand! I am demanding an immediate reversal. Our civil rights history is not for sale!” DOGE trying to sell Freedom Rider Museum

Also, in the news today, the Associated Press is reporting they have a file of names and descriptions of more than 26,000 military images flagged for removal because of connections to women, minorities, culture, or DEI. In more attempts to downplay Blackness, a word that is interchanged with woke, Trump supporters have introduced another bill to take down the bright yellow letters of Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., in exchange for the name Liberty Plaza. D.C. Mayor Morial Bowser is allowing the name change to keep millions of federal dollars flowing there. Black Lives Matter Plaza was named in 2020 after a tense exchange between President Trump and George Floyd protesters in front of the White House. There are more reports about cuts to equity initiatives that impact HBCU students. Programs that recruited top HBCU students into the military and the pipeline for Department of Defense contracts have been canceled.

Meanwhile, Democrats are pushing back against this second-term Trump administration’s anti-DEI and Anti-woke message. In the wake of the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, several Congressional Black Caucus leaders are reintroducing the Voting Rights Act. South Carolina Democratic Congressman James Clyburn and Alabama Congresswoman Terry Sewell are sponsoring H.R. 14, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Six decades ago, Lewis was hit with a billy club by police as he marched for the right to vote for African Americans. The right for Black people to vote became law with the 1965 Voting Rights Act that has since been gutted, leaving the nation to vote without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. Reflecting on the late Congressman Lewis, March 1, 2020, a few months before his death, Lewis said, “We need more than ever in these times many more someones to make good trouble- to make their own dent in the wall of injustice.”

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Rep. Al Green is Censured by The U.S. House After Protesting Trump on Medicaid

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — His censure featured no hearing at the House Ethics Committee and his punishment was put on the floor for a vote by the Republican controlled House less than 72 hours after the infraction in question.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 6, 2025

Oakland Post

By Lauren Burke

In one of the quickest punishments of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the modern era, Congressman Al Green (D-TX) was censured by a 224-198 vote today in the House. His censure featured no hearing at the House Ethics Committee and his punishment was put on the floor for a vote by the Republican controlled House less than 72 hours after the infraction in question. Of the last three censures of members of the U.S. House, two have been members of the Congressional Black Caucus under GOP control. In 2023, Rep. Jamal Bowman was censured.

On the night of March 4, as President Trump delivered a Joint Address to Congress, Rep. Green interrupted him twice. Rep. Green shouted, “You don’t have a mandate to cut Medicare, and you need to raise the cap on social security,” to President Trump. In another rare event, Rep. Green was escorted off the House floor by security shortly after yelling at the President by order of GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson. Over the last four years, members of Congress have yelled at President Biden during the State of the Union. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor-Greene was joined by Republican Rep. Lauren Bobert (R-CO) in 2022 in yelling at President Biden. In 2023, Rep. Greene, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), and Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) yelled at Biden, interrupting his speech. In 2024, wearing a red MAGA hat, a violation of the rules of the U.S. House, Greene interrupted Biden again. She was never censured for her behavior. Rep. Green voted “present” on his censure and was joined by freshman Democrat Congressman Shomari Figures of Alabama who also voted “present”.

All other members of the Congressional Black Caucus voted against censuring Green. Republicans hold a four-seat advantage in the U.S. House after the death of Texas Democrat and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner yesterday. Ten Democrats voted along with Republicans to censure Rep. Green, including Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, who is in the leadership as the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “I respect them but, I would do it again,” and “it is a matter of conscience,” Rep. Green told Black Press USA’s April Ryan in an exclusive interview on March 5. After the vote, a group of Democrats sang “We Shall Overcome” in the well at the front of the House chamber. Several Republican members attempted to shout down the singing. House Speaker Mike Johnson gaveled the House out of session and into a recess. During the brief recess members moved back to their seats and out of the well of the House. Shortly after the vote to censor Rep. Green, Republican Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee quickly filed legislation to punish members who participated in the singing of “We Shall Overcome.” Earlier this year, Rep. Ogles filed legislation to allow President Donald Trump to serve a third term, which is currently unconstitutional. As the debate started, the stock market dove down over one-point hours from close. The jobs report will be made public tomorrow.

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Trump Moves to Dismantle Education Department

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The department oversees programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), serving 7.5 million students. Transferring IDEA oversight to another agency, as Trump’s plan suggests, could jeopardize services and protections for disabled students.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 6, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

The Trump administration is preparing to issue an executive order directing newly confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin dismantling the Department of Education. While the president lacks the authority to unilaterally shut down the agency—requiring congressional approval—McMahon has been tasked with taking “all necessary steps” to reduce its role “to the maximum extent permitted by law.” The administration justifies the move by claiming the department has spent over $1 trillion since its 1979 founding without improving student achievement. However, data from The Nation’s Report Card shows math scores have improved significantly since the 1990s, though reading levels have remained stagnant. The pandemic further widened achievement gaps, leaving many students behind.

The Education Department provides about 10% of public-school funding, primarily targeting low-income students, rural districts, and children with disabilities. A recent Data for Progress poll found that 61% of voters oppose Trump’s efforts to abolish the agency, while just 34% support it. In Washington, D.C., where student proficiency rates remain low—22% in math and 34% in English—federal funding is crucial. Serenity Brooker, an elementary education major, warned that cutting the department would worsen conditions in underfunded schools.

“D.C. testing scores aren’t very high right now, so cutting the Department of Education isn’t going to help that at all,” she told Hilltop News. A report from the Education Trust found that low-income schools in D.C. receive $2,200 less per student than wealthier districts, leading to shortages in essential classroom materials. The department oversees programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), serving 7.5 million students. Transferring IDEA oversight to another agency, as Trump’s plan suggests, could jeopardize services and protections for disabled students.

The Office for Civil Rights also plays a key role in enforcing laws that protect students from discrimination. Moving it to the Department of Justice, as proposed in Project 2025, would make it harder for families to file complaints, leaving vulnerable students with fewer protections. Federal student aid programs, including Pell Grants and loan repayment plans, could face disruption if the department is dismantled. Experts warn this could worsen the student debt crisis, pushing more borrowers into default. “With funding cuts, they don’t have the materials they need, like books or things to help with math,” Brooker said. “It makes learning less fun for them.”