Here’s who has filed to run in Columbia’s city elections so far

The first batch of candidates for this year’s Columbia’s city election is locked in.

Seven hopefuls officially filed to run last week during the first week of filing for the November municipal election in the Capital City. Filing will continue through noon Aug. 13. The election will be Nov. 2, with runoffs on Nov. 16, if necessary.

There are four seats up for election this year, including mayor, an at-large post, District 1 and District 4.

In the mayor’s race, two candidates officially filed to run last week: city Councilman Daniel Rickenmann and city Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine. Meanwhile, a third mayoral hopeful, Sam Johnson, said he plans to file on Monday morning. The mayoral candidates are vying to replace Mayor Steve Benjamin, who is not seeking re-election this year after three terms.

Businessman and developer Joe Taylor has filed to run in the District 4 race. District 4 is in the northeast part of the city and includes neighborhoods such as Kings Grant, Lake Katherine and Gregg Park. Taylor lives in the Tanglewood neighborhood.

Nonprofit leader and state Department of Corrections employee Christa Williams filed to run in District 1. Councilman Sam Davis has led that district for 23 years, but is not seeking re-election. District 1 is in the northern part of Columbia, and includes neighborhoods like Greenview and Earlewood.

Businesswoman Heather Bauer, environmental lobbyist Deitra Stover Matthews and photographer Aaron Smalls have filed to run in the at-large race. Unlike district seats, candidates in the at-large race are elected citywide.

There are several other city council candidates who have long announced their intention to seek office, but have yet to officially file. Those include attorney Tyler Bailey, public health researcher Dr. Aditi Bussells and activist John Tyler in the at-large race and attorney Tina Herbert in the District 1 race.

Filing fees are $1,000 for the mayor’s race and $530 for council races.

This story was originally published August 8, 2021 at 10:12 AM.

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.