Patrick Braxton

Patrick Braxton is an American politician.[2][3][4]

He is known for being involved in a civil rights dispute, after being the first elected black mayor of the Newbern, Alabama, a small town (population 133 as of the 2020 Census) with a majority Black population (64% as of 2020).[5] He was the only candidate to file for election in 2020 and so won by default.

According to Braxton, the town had not held an election in several decades prior to this, with successive mayors being appointed by the previous ones and then appointing town councillors. He was then obstructed by the previous administration from assuming office, with the previous and acting mayor of Newbern, Haywood Stokes III, holding a special election that was not publicized to reappoint himself and his town council members to office. Braxton has alleged that this obstruction was racially motivated. He filed suit in 2023, and his case has received attention from various regional news sources.[6][3][2][4]

Braxton says that while he asked both White and Black residents to serve, no White residents agreed. Some of the people Braxton appointed to his town council were James Ballard, Barbara Patrick, Janice Quarles, and Wanda Scott, who are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Braxton et al v. Stokes et al. Only one Black resident had ever served on the town's council before and none had served as mayor.[6]