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Fast Forward. It’s 2029, and in just a few weeks, Birmingham voters will head to the polls to choose their next mayor. To choose the successor to three-term Mayor Randall Woodfin. To elect its first female mayor.

You heard me.

It could happen. It should happen. It should happen because it’s long overdue. Cities throughout Alabama have elected female mayors, yet Birmingham voters have never elected a woman to the position. Not since the city’s founding in 1871.

On Oct. 28, 2009, Carole Smitherman, the city council president, assumed the role after Mayor Larry Langford was convicted of bribery and corruption. She held the office for less than a month — just 28 days, if you’re counting — before being replaced b

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