 Turmoil in the mayor 's office also weakened the Birmingham city government in its opposition to the campaign . Connor , who had run for several elected offices in the months leading up to the campaign , had lost all but the race for Public Safety Commissioner . Because they believed Connor 's extreme conservatism slowed progress for the city as a whole , a group of white political moderates worked to defeat him . The Citizens for Progress was backed by the Chamber of Commerce and other white professionals in the city , and their tactics were successful . In November 1962 , Connor lost the race for mayor to Albert Boutwell , a less combative segregationist . However , Connor and his colleagues on the City Commission refused to accept the new mayor 's authority . They claimed on a technicality that their terms would not expire until 1965 instead of in the spring of 1963 . So for a brief time , Birmingham had two city governments attempting to conduct business . 
