Photos courtesy of the candidates
The four Democratic candidates for Alabama House District 56 in the May 24, 2022, primary election are, from left, Tereshia Huffman, Cleo King, Ontario Tillman and Jesse Matthews.
Four Democrats are vying for the House District 56 seat in the Alabama Legislature being vacated by Louise Alexander, who is running for Alabama Senate District 19.
House District 56 includes Ross Bridge and part of the Lake Cyrus community in Hoover, as well as most of Bessemer, Brighton, Lipscomb and the Oxmoor Valley and Shannon communities.
The House District 56 race features Birmingham Water Works Board member Tereshia Huffman, former Bessemer Councilman Cleo King, Bessemer Councilman Jesse Matthews and attorney Ontario Tillman.
Photo courtesy of Tereshia Huffman.
Tereshia Huffman, 37, lives in the Oxmoor Valley community.
Tereshia Huffman
Huffman, 37, lives in the Oxmoor Valley community. She graduated from Pinson Valley High School in 2003 and the University of Alabama in 2008, majoring in English and public relations.
She worked two years as a community organizer for former state Rep. Earl Hilliard and about 4½ years in the office of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, working in human resources and on projects dealing with streetcars, time saving and information technology.
She then spent about three years working in the office of DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, leading projects on water infrastructure, blight removal and urban gardens.
She moved back to Birmingham in 2019 and worked about a year for the REV Birmingham revitalization and economic development nonprofit, eight months with the KHA (Keecha Harris and Associates) consulting firm
(working with nonprofits on racial and ethnic equity in environmental and climate issues), and six months as a field organizer for Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin’s 2021 re-election campaign. In October, she joined the Birmingham Promise nonprofit as a student outreach coordinator.
Huffman said she’s running for the Legislature to improve the quality of life for everyday people. If elected, her priorities would include expanding mental health resources, particularly in schools and law enforcement agencies, and expanding educational opportunities to offer trade and vocational opportunities in middle schools and increase funding for special education and pre-kindergarten programs, she said.
She also wants to focus on economic development, making sure House District 56 gets its fair share of money for improving roads, sidewalks, sewer and stormwater pipes, bike trails and access to healthy food options, she said. She wants to eliminate food deserts and make sure everyone has access to a grocery store, she said.
She is a member of The Worship Center Church in Bessemer and Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. In December, she was appointed to the Birmingham Water Works Board, where she now serves as assistant secretary, treasurer, chairwoman of the communications committee and as a member of the human resources committee.
For more information, go to tereshiahuffman.com.
Photo courtesy of Cleo King.
Cleo King, 40, is a lifelong resident of Bessemer.
Cleo King
King, 40, is a lifelong resident of Bessemer. He graduated from Jess Lanier High School in 2000 and worked about 15 years in the funeral home business in cities including Bessemer, Birmingham, Brighton and Hueytown.
He worked about two years as the branch manager for B&B Medical Services in Riverchase before the pandemic and for the past six years has owned and run the King Enterprises janitorial services company.
King was elected to the Bessemer City Council in 2010 and in 2017 was elected president of the council for two years. He ran for mayor in 2018 and came in second among three candidates.
King has served 12 years on the Bessemer Public Library Board, including a period as chairman, and remains a member of the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission. He is the former second vice president of the National League of Cities National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials.
King said he is passionate about serving people, noting he was successful in bringing the new Bessemer Recreation Center to his District 7 and championed a successful effort to remove a box on city employment applications asking applicants if they had been convicted of a crime. He said the change enabled non-violent offenders to have a fair and equal chance for employment without having their past held against them.
If elected, he said he would push for more economic opportunities for residents of the district, work to boost mental health resources and use his legislative discretionary fund to support teachers and schools.
As someone whose nephew was killed years ago, he wants to find creative ways to bolster gun control and curb violence, he said. “It’s so easy for people to get their hands on a gun.”
He also wants to make sure the criminal justice system treats all people equally and to reform the parole system so that people on parole don’t have to pay as much money back into the parole system, he said.
For more information, go to cleoking.org.
Photo courtesy of Jesse Matthews.
Jesse Matthews, 63, was born in Faunsdale in Marengo County but has lived in Bessemer since he was 6 months old.
Jesse Matthews
Matthews, 63, was born in Faunsdale in Marengo County but has lived in Bessemer since he was 6 months old. He graduated from Hueytown High School and studied appliance repair at Lawson State Community College and attended Bessemer State Community College and the University of Alabama at Birmingham before dropping out of UAB and going to work at Alabama Power to help support his mother, who had suffered strokes.
Matthews spent his entire career — 37 years — with Alabama Power, working as a field service representative, until he retired in January of this year.
He served 13 years as a neighborhood president for the Pipe Shop community in Bessemer and has served more than 23 years on the Bessemer City Council. He said he was proud to spearhead a sanitary sewer project for the Pipe Shop community and bring a community park with a walking track and basketball goals there.
Matthews said he has played a role in the economic development that Bessemer has seen in recent years with the addition of things like the Dollar General, Lowe’s and Carvana distribution centers. As a state legislator, he would continue to push for more economic development and community development in the region to improve the quality of life for residents of Jefferson County, he said.
With everything going on in the Lakeshore Parkway corridor, House District 56 is ripe for development, Matthews said. “It’s low-hanging fruit.”
He would join forces with Lawson State Community College to continue the college’s efforts in workforce development programs for Mercedes and other large corporations, he said. He also wants to boost science, technology, engineering and math education. “We’ve got to prepare these kids and bring our education up,” he said.
Matthews said he also would work to find a new use for UAB’s Medical West Hospital in Bessemer once the hospital relocates to McCalla.
Matthews has served on the board of directors for the National League of Cities, the executive committee of the Alabama League of Municipalities and the Alabama Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials. He also has been involved with the Bessemer Chamber of Commerce, Concerned Citizens of Bessemer and Jefferson County Democratic Conference and serves as a deacon and youth advisor at New Bethlehem Baptist Church.
For more information, go to electjessematthews.com.
Photo courtesy of Ontario Tillman.
Ontario Tillman 44, was born and raised in Bessemer.
Ontario Tillman
Tillman, 44, was born and raised in Bessemer. He graduated from Jess Lanier High School in 1996 and obtained a bachelor’s degree in special education and a master’s degree in collaborative teaching from Alabama A&M University.
He taught and coached girls basketball for three years at Lee High School in Huntsville and then taught and coached boys basketball for a year at Satsuma High School in Mobile before moving back to Bessemer around 2008. He then taught at West Hills Elementary School in Bessemer while he went to law school and graduated with a law degree from Miles Law School in 2012.
Tillman has been practicing law for 10 years and also coached boys basketball at Bessemer City High School from 2013 to 2016. He started working with attorney Leroy Maxwell Jr. in 2017 and was named as a partner in the Maxwell Tillman law firm in 2018, working on criminal, civil and family law cases.
This is Tillman’s first run for public office, but he said he has been involved in politics ever since he was a young boy working with his grandmother, Hulethia Tillman, for candidates in the Bessemer area with the Bessemer Voters League.
As a legislator, Tillman said he would work to bring more high-paying jobs to House District 56 so people can earn a living wage. He also would work to provide more adequate and affordable housing, he said.
Tillman said he would push for expansion of mental health services. He would love to see more mental health clinics that are similar to the “doc-in-a-box clinics” that are common in the area, he said.
“If we can address mental health issues, the economy and housing, that will have an impact on crime, education and the quality of life in District 56,” Tillman said.
Other priorities would be to improve the transit system, roads and other infrastructure, increase pay for teachers and retired teachers and focus on science, technology, engineering and math education, he said.
Tillman has been involved with the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Habitat for Humanity, March of Dimes, boys’ clubs and sports leagues and led free legal clinics. He grew up in 21st Street Baptist Church in Bessemer and now attends Liberty Faith Christian Church.
For more information, go to voteontariotillmandistrict56.com.
