Columbia Council hopeful Joe Taylor hauls in $81K in initial campaign donations

Former S.C. Secretary of Commerce announced just two weeks ago he would be running for Columbia City Council in District 4.

And the campaign cash has come pouring in.

Taylor, a businessman and developer, reported just more than $91,000 in campaign contributions in his initial fundraising report, according to records from the S.C. Ethics Commission. That included $81,000 from dozens of individual donors and a $10,000 donation from Taylor to his own campaign.

Taylor is currently the only person who has announced a campaign for the seat in District 4, which is in the northeast part of the city. Councilman Daniel Rickenmann currently holds the District 4 seat, but he is running for mayor this year.

Rickenmann was listed among Taylor’s donors. He gave the businessman $1,000 toward his Council run.

“I think the local support is stunning, and very humbling,” Taylor told The State. “Those were people who just responded to our announcement. We’ve had no official fundraiser (events). I hope that is people demonstrating their confidence in my ability to make a difference, and I hope it is a testament to people thinking we can do things better, too.”

Aside from District 4, other seats up for election in Columbia this year include mayor, an at-large post and District 1. The next round of quarterly fundraising reporting for all of the various races will come in early July.

Fundraising has been particularly lively in the mayoral race, where Rickenmann posted a $115,000 haul in the first quarter, while Tameika Isaac Devine brought in $123,000 (that included an $8,500 donation to her own campaign) and former Benjamin aide Sam Johnson reported $37,000.

Taylor said residents seem to be dialed-in to the city races this year.

“I think people are paying better attention and are more interested,” Taylor said. “I just think people think we can do better.”

Aside from Rickenmann, some other notable donors listed in Taylor’s initial campaign cash burst include U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, a Lexington Republican; restaurateur Jon Sears; former SC Supreme Court Justice Costa Pleicones; the law office of Joe McCulloch; the law office of state Rep. Micah Caskey, R-Lexington; and a restaurant owned by state Rep. Kirkman Finlay, R-Richland.

This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 3:20 PM.

Chris Trainor

The State

Chris Trainor is a retail reporter for The State and has been working for newspapers in South Carolina for more than 21 years, including previous stops at the (Greenwood) Index-Journal and the (Columbia) Free Times. He is the winner of a host of South Carolina Press Association awards, including honors in column writing, government beat reporting, profile writing, food writing, business beat reporting, election coverage, social media and more.