 Considered a moderate by many in Birmingham early in the Civil Rights Movement, Boutwell's election to the City Commission on April 2, 1963 was seen as a rejection of vehement segregationist Eugene "Bull" Connor.Connor attributed his loss by 7,982 votes to a 10,000-strong “Negro bloc vote”; and in fact Fred Shuttlesworth had delayed mass demonstrations of the "Birmingham Campaign" until after the election.Dr.