Meet the 6 Democrats on Tuesday. Election vying to fill seat vacated by John Rogers

By Virginie Martin | birminghamwatch.org

Some Birmingham-area voters will head to the polls Tuesday to select a Democratic candidate to run for the District 52 seat in the Alabama House of Representatives, which recently remained vacant following the resignation of former Rep. John Rogers and pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges.

Six Democrats are running for the seat: Dedra Campbell, Kelvin Datcher, Eric Major, LaTanya Millhouse, Eyrika L. Parker and Frank Woodson. If none of the candidates obtains more than half of the votes, a runoff will take place between the top two voters on July 16.

A Republican is running for the seat: Carlos Crum. Since he had no candidate for the Republican nomination, there will be no Republican vote in Tuesday’s election.

The Oct. 1 general election will pit Crum against the Democratic winner.

House District 52 covers parts of Birmingham, including the communities of Glen Iris, Powderly, Southwest Birmingham and West End; as well as sections of Homewood, Mountain Brook, Bessemer and unincorporated Jefferson County. See the map here.

You can determine if you are in House District 52 by searching your name on the Secretary of State’s website.

BirminghamWatch’s voter’s guide to the race also includes candidate profiles, a compilation of candidates’ statements about why they should be elected and the issues that are most important to them.

Rogers agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. The charges stem from a kickback scheme that involved donating $400,000 from the taxpayer-funded Jefferson County Community Service Fund to the Piper Davis Youth Baseball League and then, with his assistant, receive $200,00 of this money.

Under the plea agreement, Rogers will serve 14 months of home confinement and an indefinite period of supervised release, and Rogers agreed to pay $197,950.45 in restitution along with his two alleged co-conspirators, according to his plea agreement.

Two other people had already pleaded guilty in this case. Rep. Fred Plump, a Fairfield Democrat who was executive director of the league, resigned from the Legislature and pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice in June 2023. Varrie Johnson Kindall, Rogers aide and companion , pleaded guilty in February to conspiring with Rogers and Plump to defraud the fund.

Plump’s seat in the Legislature was taken by Travis Hendrix after a special election in October 2023.