Gadsden Voters Choose Between Ford, Worthy in Mayoral Election Today
- The Weekly Ledger
- 8 hours ago
- 5 min read
T.L. Sullivan | The Weekly Ledger News | Election/ Area News | Tuesday, August, 25, 2026
GADSDEN, Ala. — Voters in the City of Gadsden are heading to the polls Tuesday, Aug. 25, to decide who will lead the city for the next four years, choosing between incumbent Mayor Craig Ford and challenger Thomas Worthy.
The two candidates have outlined differing priorities for Gadsden’s future, with the campaign focusing on economic development, neighborhood investment, infrastructure, city spending and how voters should measure progress over the next mayoral term.
Growth and Gadsden’s Biggest Challenge
Ford identified keeping pace with Gadsden’s recent growth as one of the city’s biggest challenges, particularly when it comes to housing.
“Our biggest problem is keeping up with growth,” Ford said.
Ford pointed to the arrival of MINT and what he described as approximately 1,300 jobs announced during the past six months. He said attracting housing developers will be increasingly important as workers come to the area to fill newly created manufacturing positions.
“So we need to focus on housing and try to generate developers coming into our city that will provide the housing that is needed for these manufacturing jobs that we have coming,” Ford said.
Worthy, meanwhile, identified what he called “balanced growth” as one of Gadsden’s most pressing challenges.
He argued that investment should reach communities throughout the city and said tax dollars should be distributed more proportionately among Gadsden’s neighborhoods.
“The tax dollars are not being, they’re being spent, but they’re not being spent equally or even proportionately,” Worthy said.
Worthy said he would place additional focus on how Community Development Block Grant funding is used, including directing more of those funds toward lower-income areas.
Different Approaches to Economic Development
Economic development has also emerged as a major issue in the race.
Ford said he believes the city’s current approach is producing results and pointed to recent industrial recruitment efforts.
“I think our approach is working based on our record,” Ford said.
He cited MINT, redevelopment of the former Goodyear property and partnerships with Gadsden State Community College as examples.
Ford said workforce training at Gadsden State helped attract MINT and pointed to the redevelopment of previously unused industrial property as another accomplishment.
“We took an old dilapidated steel mill that was a brownfield, got it cleared by ADEM and was able to bring in an industry right in the heart of our city,” Ford said.
Worthy said he would seek to diversify the city’s economic development strategy beyond recruiting large manufacturing operations.
His proposals include pursuing more specialized health care jobs and establishing an economic incubator designed to help local entrepreneurs develop and grow businesses.
“We don’t have to always go outside and try to bring these big businesses in, the big box stores, because we can have businesses that can — homegrown businesses, in other words,” Worthy said.
Downtown Investment Versus Neighborhood Needs
When discussing how city dollars should be prioritized, Ford pointed to investments in several areas, including paving, public works and downtown development.
The city has established its own paving crew while continuing to contract some larger paving projects.
Ford said downtown investment remains important but acknowledged that neighborhoods should receive additional attention moving forward.
“But now it’s time to get into the communities and the neighborhoods,” Ford said.
He said the city has spent much of the current term addressing underlying needs and that another term would include a greater focus on neighborhood improvements.
Worthy said his priority would be neighborhoods, roads and infrastructure.
“We’re going to put it in the communities because our roads are terrible,” Worthy said. “We need to fix our roads. We need to fix that infrastructure.”
Worthy argued that too much city investment has begun downtown without extending equally into surrounding neighborhoods. He said his administration would seek to reverse that approach by focusing first on community-level needs.
Where Each Candidate Says Gadsden Can Improve
Asked where Gadsden could have performed better during the past four years, Ford said there is always room for improvement but defended the overall direction of his administration.
“I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing because it’s working,” Ford said.
He again pointed to neighborhoods as an area where he wants the city to do more, including improvements to playgrounds and increased involvement with Gadsden City Schools.
“I want to get more involved with our school system and I want to participate more in that,” Ford said. “But there’s a lot of work that can be done in our neighboring communities that we need to focus more on.”
Worthy identified city borrowing and debt as areas where he believes a different approach should have been taken.
He said some projects could have been completed in stages rather than being undertaken simultaneously.
“So to do the projects that they are doing now, we could have took steps and done it in stages instead of doing it all at one time,” Worthy said.
Worthy said debt payments can reduce the amount of funding available for infrastructure and road improvements and said the city needs to prioritize spending more carefully.
How Voters Should Measure the Next Four Years
Ford said voters should consider several measurable indicators when evaluating his administration, including city revenue, job growth, population and public safety staffing.
According to Ford, Gadsden’s general fund revenue stood at approximately $54 million when he took office and has since increased to approximately $74 million.
“So in four years, we’ve grown $20 million,” Ford said. “I think that’s a bellwether test of how we’ve done.”
Ford also said the number of Gadsden police officers has increased from 79 to more than 90 and that the fire department is now fully staffed after being approximately 15 positions short when he took office.
“I want to continue doing what we’re doing, and that’s my goal and my focus,” Ford said.
Worthy said voters should be able to look around their own neighborhoods at the end of a term and see noticeable improvements, especially in roads, infrastructure and parks.
“I’m not going to sit here and promise that I can pave every road in every community because I cannot,” Worthy said.
Worthy said one of his first steps as mayor would be conducting a thorough audit of the city’s finances and ongoing projects to determine how much funding is available for neighborhood infrastructure.
He also said he would seek improvements to parks throughout Gadsden’s seven districts rather than concentrating recreational investments in only a few areas.
Road improvements, Worthy said, would be one of the areas voters could use to evaluate his performance.
Decision Day in Gadsden
The election now rests with Gadsden voters as they decide whether to give Ford another four years at City Hall or choose Worthy to lead the city in a different direction.
The Weekly Ledger News will continue following the Gadsden municipal election and will provide updates as results become available.
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