Politics and government

Huntsville's Administration Building, also known as City Hall

The current mayor of Huntsville is Tommy Battle, who was elected in 2008. The Deputy Mayor/City Administrator is Rex Reynolds, who also serves as the city's Public Safety Director. The city has a five-member/district City Council. The current members are:

District 1 (Northwest): Richard Showers, Sr. District 2 (East): Mark Russell (President) District 3 (Southeast): John Olshefski District 4 (Southwest): Bill Kling District 5 (West): Will Culver

Council elections are "staggered", meaning that Districts 2, 3, and 4 had elections in August 2010, while Districts 1 and 5 will have elections simultaneously with mayoral elections in 2012.

The city has boards and commissions which control everything from schools and planning to museums and downtown development.

In July 2007 then Senator Barack Obama held the first fund raiser in Alabama for his Presidential campaign in Huntsville. Obama ended up winning the Alabama Democratic Primary and Madison County by large margins in 2008. However, in the general election, John McCain carried Madison County with 57% of the vote.

See also: List of mayors of Huntsville, Alabama