Johnny Ford

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Johnny L. Ford (born August 23, 1942) is an American politician who served as mayor of Tuskegee, Alabama, and as an Alabama State Representative. He grew up in Tuskegee, attended Tuskegee Institute High School, earned a BA in History and Sociology from Knoxville College, and earned a Master of Public Administration from Auburn University Montgomery. He also has four honorary doctorates. Ford is Catholic and married a White woman in a Roman Catholic ceremony when miscegenation laws still existed in Alabama. They have three children: John, Christopher, and Tiffany.

Ford was first elected mayor of Tuskegee in 1972. He and Algernon J. Cooper were among the first Black mayors of a city in Alabama with more than 10,000 people in the modern era. He served six terms as mayor until 1996, when he was defeated by Ronald D. Williams. In 1998 he was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives for the 82nd District and served from 1999 to 2004.

In February 2003, Ford switched from the Democratic to the Republican party, becoming Alabama’s first Black Republican in the state legislature in more than a century. He later resigned from the legislature to run for mayor again and won in 2004, defeating Lucenia Williams Dunn, the first Black woman to be Tuskegee’s mayor, by a margin of 54% to 46%.

Ford faced a competitive race for re-election in 2008. He was defeated by Omar Neal, who led the August election and won the October runoff 54% to 46%. In 2010, Ford rejoined the Democratic Party and ran for the open State Senate district 28 seat, but lost the runoff to Billy Beasley.

In 2012, Ford ran again for mayor of Tuskegee and won in the August primary, defeating the incumbent Omar Neal 57% to 38% (a third candidate received the remaining 5%), earning an eighth non-consecutive term as mayor.

Throughout his career, Ford has held numerous leadership roles, including founder and Director General of the World Conference of Mayors, President of Johnny Ford and Associates, Inc., and President-emeritus and founder of the National Conference of Black Mayors. He has served on federal advisory committees and has been involved with the Alabama League of Municipalities, Kappa Alpha Psi, and the Tuskegee Optimist Club.