NEWBERN, Ala. —

Patrick Braxton has been elected as the first Black mayor of Newbern, Alabama, winning the election with a vote count of 66 to 26 in a town of around 200 people.

"It's what I've always heard and it's what my grandmother pushed on me, don't let anybody stop you on your race, color, gender, sex, or nothing if you believe in something, keep going," Braxton said.

Newbern’s mayor-council government had not been put to a vote for six decades. Instead, town officials held “hand-me-down” positions, with each mayor appointing a successor who appointed the council members, according to the lawsuit filed by Braxton and others. The result was an overwhelmingly white government in a town where Black residents outnumbered white residents 2-1.

Braxton, a volunteer firefighter, qualifi

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