He was re-elected in 1955 with an increased share of the vote, receiving 70% of the vote to Republican nominee William Lynch's 30%. On the city council, Alexander continued to press the cause of civil service reform. In 1954, he successfully opposed the efforts of fellow Democrats James Hugh Joseph Tate and Michael J. Towey to weaken the civil service reforms of the new charter. Two years later, Alexander remained opposed, but the amendments' proponents found the required two-thirds vote in Council to make it on to the ballot for popular approval. A referendum on the subject failed in a vote that April.
