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Sam Chandler
Frank Brocato
Brocato and his mother celebrate his victory in the mayoral election.
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Sam Chandler
Frank Brocato
Frank Brocato talks to supporters after his victory is announced.
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Sam Chandler
Frank Brocato
After hearing his victory announced, Frank Brocato speaks to supporters at his watch party.
Retired Fire Marshal Frank Brocato swept to an easy victory in the Hoover mayoral elections, winning 7,129, or 52 percent, of the total 13,755 votes cast.
Incumbent Gary Ivey took 35 percent of the vote and Steve McClinton took 13 percent.
"I have a lot of emotions running through my whole family right now. It's a big responsibility. Any mayor in any city this size and some of the challenges that we have ahead of us, it's something I take very seriously, and I'm going to do everything I can to bring out city together and to work with Mayor Ivey as well. I talked to him tonight, and he was very gracious, and I appreciate it. He extended his hand and so we'll work together to make this city even better. We've got a wonderful city now," Brocato said at his watch party at Capers on Park Avenue.
At a party awaiting results at Aldridge Gardens, Ivey gave a statement to the crowd conceding the victory.
"I just wanted to tell y’all from the bottom of my heart how much it’s meant to me that so many friends turned out. It’s been overwhelming," Ivey said.
Opponent Steve McClinton held a watch party at the Lake Cyrus clubhouse. In conceding the race, he said he intends to continue focusing on his work with the Hoover City Schools Foundation.
"Right now I serve in many capacities for the community and I'll serve whatever endeavor I'm asked to serve for the Foundation. If I'm asked to do anything else, I'd be glad to help the city," McClinton said.
Brocato attributed his success to a "grassroots" campaign of knocking on doors rather than robo-calls or less personal methods. He said his emphasis on education and public safety appealed to Hoover's voters.
While the city has to officially canvass the results, a few of the races are looking like narrow victories. In Place 1, Curt Posey won 5,254 votes, or 41 percent, over Trey Lott's 5,172, or 40.5 percent. Since neither received more than 50 percent of the vote, the Place 1 race will go into a runoff.
In Place 2, Gene Smith eked out 6,199 votes to Sam Swiney's 6,171, a difference of less than a quarter of 1 percent. The closest race was in Place 6, where Casey Middlebrooks took only nine more votes than Jason DeLuca, totaling 6,212 to DeLuca's 6,203. The results of both of these races will have to be double checked during final canvassing next week.
The rest of the unofficial results are as follows:
- Place 3: John Lyda, 78 percent (9,968 votes)
- Place 4: Mike Shaw, 65.5 percent (7,985 votes)
- Place 5: Derrick Murphy, 68 percent (8,675 votes)
- Place 7: John Greene, 58 percent (7,010 votes)
