Just over three years ago, then-Mobile County District Judge Spiro Cheriogotis delivered a blistering rebuke to Mayor Sandy Stimpson after a news conference in which the mayor had declared the criminal justice system “broken” amid a surge in violent crime.

The fiery words, intended to get the mayor’s attention, did exactly that.

Stimpson took notice. The two men met over breakfast and aired their concerns.

“He was not wrong with what he was saying,” Stimpson reflected. “I was probably off base putting the judges in a box and making the comment I made. Him writing that letter took some boldness on standing his ground, which I admired. I hit him in public, and he decided to do the same.”

Fast-forward a few years, and the former critics stood shoulder to shoulder inside a Greer’s marketplace owned by Cheriogotis’ wife, Lucy Greer. There, Stimpson—retiring after more than a decade in office—threw his full support behind the 42-year-old Cheriogotis as his pick to lead Mobile as the next mayor. The municipal election is August 26.

“Spiro represents generational change and brings a willingness to challenge the status quo,” Stimpson said Tuesday. “He will inspire 25 to 50 years olds to get off the sidelines and get engaged to make Mobile a great city.”

The endorsement, though expected by rival campaigns, left Cheriogotis nearly speechless. Stimpson, who announced last fall he wouldn’t seek a fourth term, was viewed as the most influential endorsement in the mayor’s race.

Calling the moment “surreal,” Cheriogotis thanked Stimpson’s wife, Jean, and credited the outgoing mayor for “breathing life” into long-stalled projects like the Civic Center and a new airport, and for putting the city on firm financial footing.

“It is not hyperbole to say you pulled this city back from the brink of bankruptcy,” Cheriogotis said, adding that if he is elected, he will lean on Stimpson for advice.

No deals

Stimpson later told the media that he met with Cheriogotis first after announcing his intentions not to seek a fourth term in office last September. Stimpson has also met with a handful of other candidates, including former Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson and former Police Chief Lawrence Battiste.

The Hudson campaign, in early March, criticized Cheriogotis for vowing to retain Stimpson’s administrative staff for his endorsement. Part of that criticism stems from former Stimpson aide Candace Cooksey taking an unpaid leave of absence from city employment to run Cheriogotis’ campaign in February.

Other candidates, including former Mobile Police Chief Paul Prine, say that Cheriogotis and Stimpson exchanged “some sort of deal” for the endorsement. Former Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine says Cheriogotis is vowing to maintain Stimpson’s “over bloated” staff.

Stimpson denied there were any promises made over staffing related to a political endorsement. He also said he had not finalized his endorsement decision until after watching Tuesday’s mayoral forum at Cottage Hill Baptist Church.

“There are no deals,” Stimpson said. “I made no deal with Spiro. I do not expect anyone to keep anyone else’s team.”

Stimpson added, “Sometimes it takes a change to breathe a new life into it, come up with a new idea and get a new team member in to say this is the pathway forward.”

Cheriogotis said he is “thankful” that Stimpson didn’t ask him to promise anything for his endorsement.

“I’ve made no promises, even from my campaign staff on what their role may be in an upcoming administration,” he said. “I haven’t made any permanent decisions on what I will do.”

However, Cheriogotis said he believes in the value of “continuity and institutional knowledge,” though claims it will not “outweigh everything else” when assembling an administrative team.

“My goal is to be the leader of a team with a singular mission — to drive the City of Mobile forward and help Mobile finally realize its full potential.”

Cheriogotis is leading the field of candidates in fundraising, accumulating over $555,000 in money at the end of April. Stimpson said his endorsement could trigger additional support for Cheriogotis, acknowledging that his One Mobile PAC could provide support for Cheriogotis. The political action committee had $147,000 in campaign money at the end of April.

“We’ll make that determination,” Stimpson said. “I don’t know how involved I will be (with the campaign). I think part of the campaign is a training ground to be the mayor and being under pressure and getting your stomach tied in a knot and talking to the media. I don’t want to make it too easy.”

Opponents pounce

Stimpson, though, admitted that he could be “detrimental” if he is too involved.

Nodine said he doesn’t believe Stimpson is as politically beneficial to Cheriogotis as the mayor would have been four years ago. He said that public safety remains a growing concern in Mobile. He also blamed the Stimpson administration for what he said were “cost overruns” on some of the city’s largest projects including a parking garage adjacent to the future Mobile Civic Center, and a new airport at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley.

“Sometimes people get offended by people telling them who they feel they should vote for,” Nodine said. “I just think Sandy Stimpson is looking for a position, after he gets out of the mayor’s office, to keep his hands on the wheel.”

Prine, who had a fallout with the Stimpson administration last year and was fired as police chief, criticized the endorsement as “power keeping” and “catering to the most affluent in our community.”

“The people I’ve spoken to in this campaign, the moms and the veterans, they want change that is real and want a mayor who fights from the ground up,” Prine said, adding that he is not “part of the country club crowd” and has spent his life on Mobile’s streets including a long tenure as a police officer.

“I’m not there to protect the same old establishment but to build something better,” Prine said.

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Jermaine Burrell, a former Mobile city councilman who is also running for mayor, called Cheriogotis and Stimpson as the “same status quo.” He accused the Stimpson administration of leaving a city that is “less safe” while making it harder to find affordable housing and attracting new development and investments into the city.

“Mobilians I talk to … are ready to turn the page on all of that and move forward with a new vision for our city, one that’s focused on all of us,” he said.

Cheriogotis is the youngest candidate among the seven running for mayor. Hudson’s campaign, in a statement, pointed out his lack of executive leadership experience or operating a large business is problematic.

Wiley Blankenship, the campaign manager for Hudson, said Cheriogotis is Stimpson’s “handpicked successor,” and claimed that Stimpson had been campaigning for him already.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mayor Stimpson and his leadership, but it is troubling that he would choose to endorse a candidate with no executive leadership experience in government or even a large business,” Blankenship said. “I feel like this decision is more about who can be controlled than who would be best for Mobile.”

Neither Battiste nor state Rep. Barbara Drummond could be reached for comment.

Different backgrounds

Cheriogotis and Stimpson, who are over 30 years apart in age, have different backgrounds. Stimpson rose to become mayor in 2013, after nearly a 40-year career in his family’s lumber manufacturing business. He worked his way to CFO and ultimately as its Executive Vice President.

Cheriogotis said he also grew up working in his family’s vending business that is based in Dothan. It has since evolved into Pig Out, a barbecue restaurant next to Dothan High School.

“I did grow up in a family business, saw it struggle mightily,” he said. “This was not a multi-million-dollar business.”

Cheriogotis spent his youth growing up in Dothan before he went to college at the University of Alabama. He returned to Tuscaloosa to get his law degree in 2011 and moved to Mobile to take a job as a prosecutor in the Mobile County District Attorney’s office.

Cheriogotis served on the bench in Mobile County from 2018 until he resigned in January. He called leaving his judgeship the “hardest thing I had to do in my professional life.”

Hudson’s campaign, earlier this year, attempted to tie the resignation as a judge to a 56% pay raise the Mobile City Council endorsed for the next mayor, hiking the salary up to $195,000 annually. Cheriogotis resigned as a judge without having amassed the 10 years of service to be vested in the Alabama Judicial Retirement Fund.

Cheriogotis has previously said his decision to run for mayor was not tied to the pay raise.

Cheriogotis said that his past conversations with Stimpson included seeking advice about whether to run for mayor. Stimpson, he said, responded with questions about being mayor while being a father to three young children.

“That was something we talked through,” Cheriogotis said about his initial conversations with Stimpson ahead of announcing in January to run for mayor. “He didn’t make up his mind at that time. Frankly, I didn’t ask for his support at the time. I asked for his advice. That is what I needed.”

Stimpson said that he is confident he made the right choice and included a spiritual connection to the job.

“I’m convinced that Spiro and Lucy will see God’s will to our city and are receptive for prayers and support,” Stimpson said, adding that being mayor is “not easy. But it’s the most gratifying thing I’ve ever done.”