Maddox was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, attended the Tuscaloosa City Schools, and graduated from Central High School in 1991. He attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he received a bachelor's degree in political science and a Master's in Public Administration. From 1996 to 2001, Maddox served as a field director for the Alabama Education Association. In 2001, Maddox was appointed executive director of personnel for Tuscaloosa City Schools, serving until his election as mayor. On August 28, 2001, Maddox was elected to the Tuscaloosa City Council, defeating incumbent Clell Hobson, 61% to 39%. Maddox ran on a platform of education reform and crime reduction.
Mayor of Tuscaloosa
In 2005, longtime Tuscaloosa mayor Al DuPont retired. Maddox was an underdog against former city councilman Sammy Watson. Maddox came in second place in the initial round of voting, receiving 31.1% to Watson's 38%. This forced a runoff on September 13, which Maddox won with 54% of the vote to Watson's 46%. Maddox was inaugurated on October 3, in front of Tuscaloosa City Hall. On August 25, 2009, Maddox was re-elected without opposition. Maddox was re-elected again without opposition on August 27, 2013. On November 4, 2013, Walter Maddox was sworn in for his third term as Tuscaloosa’s 36th Mayor. Since his first inauguration, he has led initiatives to increase economic development, improve customer service with the implementation of Tuscaloosa 311 and provide quality pre-k education for academically at-risk four-year-old children. For the first time since 2005, Maddox faced a challenger in the 2017 mayoral election. His opponent was the founder of the Urban Progressive Party, Stepfon Lewis. Maddox defeated Lewis by receiving 89% of the vote to Lewis's 11%. Maddox was sworn into his fourth term as Mayor on May 22, 2017.
On April 27, 2011, a large tornado struck Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, killing 53 people in Tuscaloosa and inflicting $927 million in damage to the city. Two days later, Maddox toured the tornado damage with public officials including President Barack Obama and Governor Robert Bentley. Mayor Maddox has been nationally recognized for his crisis management following the EF-4 tornado that destroyed 12 percent of the City and severely damaged or destroyed 5,300 homes and businesses. The New York Times stated that Maddox "emerged as an efficient, earnest, unwavering hero of the storm," and American City & County magazine named Maddox its 2012 Municipal Leader of the Year. The Wall Street Journal described the Tuscaloosa disaster response as an attempt to "courageously create a showpiece" of "unique neighborhoods that are healthy, safe, accessible, connected, and sustainable." Mayor Maddox is currently serving as a fellow with the Program on Crisis Leadership at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He was promoted to senior fellow within the program in August 2019, where he will partner with the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative’s executive education courses to discuss lessons he learned during Tuscaloosa's tornado recovery efforts.
2018 Alabama gubernatorial election
On October 5, 2017 Maddox announced his plans to run for Governor of the state of Alabama, saying Republican leadership had failed the state, which "still ranks near the bottom in every quality-of-life indicator from education to healthcare." He won the June 5 primary with 54.6% of the vote, defeating former Alabama Supreme Court Chief JusticeSue Bell Cobb. In November he was defeated by the Republican incumbent governor, Kay Ivey in the general election. Maddox ran as a "pro-life," pro-Second Amendment candidate.
Endorsements
January 2, 2018: Lars Anderson writer and journalist
On December 27, 1998, Maddox married Robin Maddox. After having one daughter, Taylor, together, Walt and Robin divorced in 2008. On June 26, 2010, Maddox remarried, to Stephanie Nicole Roberts. Their son, Eli, was born in 2013.
