Defeated lawmaker files election challenge in court, questions opponent’s eligibility

A veteran Birmingham lawmaker is heading to court to contest the results of last month's election, taking aim at the eligibility of the political newcomer who unseated her.

State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, who was ousted from her seat following a primary challenge from Alicia Escott Lumpkin, has filed a lawsuit in Jefferson County Circuit Court. The legal filing demands that Lumpkin provide proof that she was legally qualified to hold office when she qualified for the District 60 race.

The Core Dispute

At the center of Givan’s complaint is the requirement that candidates must not hold city positions while running for elected office. Givan is seeking documentation to confirm that Lumpkin had fully severed ties with Mayor Randall Woodfin’s administration prior to entering the race.

According to Givan, failure to vacate such a position violates state law. The lawsuit also names Randy Kelley, chairman of the Alabama State Democratic Executive Committee, as a defendant. “At the end of the day, produce all of the documents,” Givan told 205focus.com on Tuesday. “I’m not doing anything that anyone else with common sense would not do. This is about honoring the process and the law.”

Legal Framework and Previous Challenges

The Mayor-Council Act, which governs the framework for Birmingham’s city operations, explicitly prohibits political appointees from running for office while employed by the mayor. Section 4.06 of the act states, “No person employed in one of these staff positions shall run for elected office while so employed.”

Lumpkin served as the city’s director of process improvement, an appointed role. While Woodfin actively endorsed and campaigned for Lumpkin, she has maintained that she resigned from her post.

Questions regarding candidate qualifications have surfaced repeatedly this cycle. Lumpkin initially withdrew from the contest when concerns were raised, only to re-enter the race after presenting a letter from Woodfin verifying her departure from city employment. Similar questions were raised by opponents regarding state Rep. Kelvin Datcher, who was also a Woodfin aide, but the Democratic Party ultimately cleared both candidates to run.

Response and Current Status

Lumpkin issued a statement through Iron City Communications, a firm with ties to Woodfin, labeling Givan’s legal action as a threat to democratic processes. The statement drew a comparison between Givan’s refusal to concede and former President Donald Trump’s reaction to the 2020 election results, calling it “a fundamentally un-American rejection of our democratic values.”

Givan dismissed the rhetoric as political distraction, emphasizing that her goal is transparency. “This is not about me being a sore loser,” she stated. “However, Lumpkin, Iron City and whatever enterprise that is being operated at city hall says and spins it, I am concerned about fairness.”

Her legal team argues that a mere resignation letter is insufficient evidence of total separation from employment. While a judge denied Givan’s request for a temporary order on Tuesday, Givan—an attorney herself—noted that the case remains active and that she plans to pursue verification of the employment documents.