Erica Grant Enters Race to Replace Tyner on Tuscaloosa Council

Tuscaloosa City Board of Education member Dr. Erica Grant is running for the City Council seat left vacant by the death of Council President Kip Tyner, becoming the first candidate to enter the race for a District 5 seat Tyner held for 30 years.

Grant, who represents District 5 on the school board, confirmed her candidacy in an interview with the Tuscaloosa Thread on Wednesday shortly after the shared she news on Facebook. She said the decision followed weeks of prayer, conversations with her husband and children, and a wave of calls and texts from Alberta residents urging her to run.

"I originally just ran for the school board because I always wanted to be an advocate — for the school system, for our children, our community," Grant said. "And as I grew in that position, I learned about and did work outside just the school system. I work with entrepreneurs and businesses, and I've learned about the budget, I've learned about personnel. So it's just the next step."

Dr. Erica Grant, left, in 2024. (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread)

She is married to David Grant, Jr. and is the mother of five children; Marcus, David III, Eric, Dylen and Paizley and grandmother to Marleii, Jacie and Tailyn.

Grant still has time left on her school board term, and taking the council seat would cost her the one she holds now, requiring an appointment or another special election to fill that vacant.

Tutored by Tyner

Her race is already taking shape, Grant said she has a campaign manager and has backing from her sorority, local fraternities, church members and a motorcycle club.

She is also moving around Alberta and seeking the blessings and endorsements of players Tyner first introduced her to when he mentored her during the race for her school board seat.

"When I ran that first campaign, Kip put me in the car and took me to so many places in Alberta, including some places I didn't even know existed back then," Grant joked.

She said she and Tyner met about a week before his death and spent hours together talking over what he had learned over three decades in office, and that he messaged her the week before he died to tell her he loved her.

"I'm honored that he did shared those things with me and I pray I can continue his legacy," Grant said.

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Cosmetology, Wings & More

Grant has been a cosmetologist for close to 30 years and runs a salon, a boutique, a business hub and The Charm Academy cosmetology school, which she opened on Greensboro Avenue in January 2025, all in District 2.

She and her husband also own Catch a Taste, the Alberta wing restaurant that grew out of a food truck and opened in the building that once housed Tuscaloosa's first Hardee's.

"I'm very thankful for our community, and for Mr. Tyner allowing us to open that business up in Alberta — helping us get our alcohol license, guiding us along the way," she said. "He have us a big opportunity in our own community, and people still come out and have a great time there."

A second location opened on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in West Tuscaloosa in December 2023, but has since closed.

She said Tyner and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox were instrumental in her opening her first business in 2006.

"He was the first person that gave me an opportunity as an entrepreneur," Grant said. "So I owe him big. That's why I've always been there with him and Mayor Maddox no matter what, because they fought for me."

Streetscapes and Streetlights

Asked what she would pursue in the roughly three years remaining on the council term, Grant pointed first to the University Boulevard East reconstruction running through the heart of Alberta.

"I want to see the University Boulevard East project completed," she said. "I would also like to work with the developer writing the next chapter at Leland Lanes, taking on projects in the area one step at a time."

The $27 million road project, funded through Mayor Walt Maddox's Elevate Tuscaloosa initiative, broke ground in January between Arcadia Drive and Redmont Drive and is expected to be finished in spring 2027.

Grant said she's also interested in adding and maintaining basic neighborhood infrastructure, including streetlights, and said she intends to let District 5 residents shape much of her agenda.

"I want to make sure our community is straight and listening to our community to see what they want moving forward, especially with this being a time of change, because everybody was so familiar with Kip. So some community members, they may have good ideas that they want me to run with," Grant said. "Having that listening ear is one thing I'm committed to as I learn the ropes, and prepare for the next term, because I definitely would run again."

A Potentially Historic Election

If elected, Grant would give the Tuscaloosa City Council a Black majority for the first time, weeks after Councilwoman Raevan Howard became the first Black woman elected as council president.

Asked to reflect on that, Grant said she welcomed the milestone but did not want it to define how she governs.

"Being an African-American woman, it is important to always make history — not just for myself, but for young ladies, our future, young guys, everybody that is coming up," she said. "But I will always see our council and our city as one. I would do what I need to do for all. My prayer would be to break barriers and make strong decisions regardless."

The city council set a December date for the special election in Alberta earlier this week. Other candidates seeking campaign announcements on the Thread can reach out to editor Stephen Dethrage at stephen.dethrage@townsquaremedia.com.

For more exclusive coverage of city politics in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.