Moe Baddourah launches campaign for Columbia mayor
.jpg "Former District 3 Councilman Moe Baddourah")
A familiar face is returning to the Columbia political scene.
Moe Baddourah, who served two terms on Columbia City Council in District 3, is running for mayor. He is one of several candidates who are seeking the city’s top political spot. Current third-term Mayor Steve Benjamin is not seeking reelection this year.
“After extensive consultation with family members and close friends, I have decided to run for mayor of Columbia for the 2021 election,” Baddourah said in a Thursday morning statement. “Since leaving office in 2019, I have united with my neighbors in weathering the pandemic, have re-invested in my community by opening a new restaurant and creating local jobs, while continuing to look after family and friends.
“These are difficult times and now, more than ever, Columbia needs experienced leadership in city government.”
Three other candidates have already filed to run for mayor: at-large City Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine, former Benjamin chief of staff Sam Johnson and District 4 City Councilman Daniel Rickenmann.
Baddourah filed to run for mayor Thursday afternoon. He represented District 3 on City Council from 2012 to 2019. He was defeated in a bid for a third term by Will Brennan.
But his second term on Council was marred after he was arrested in July 2016 on a misdemeanor charge of second-degree criminal domestic violence. Baddourah was accused of hitting his then-wife with a car door in the parking lot of Rockaway Athletic Club restaurant and bar on Rosewood Drive. He was subsequently suspended from his District 3 City Council seat by Gov. Henry McMaster in March 2017.
The governor, at the time, noted Baddourah had been charged with a “crime of moral turpitude.” Baddourah then sued McMaster in an effort to get reinstated to Council, though courts ultimately said McMaster had the authority to suspend him.
Baddourah eventually entered pre-trial intervention in the case, and charges were dropped when he completed that program. He came back to Council in October 2018 and lost his re-election bid the following fall.
The mayoral hopeful said Thursday afternoon at a City Hall news conference that he is ready to move on from the 2016 incident and the subsequent legal wrangling.
“It’s something that is in the past, I dealt with it and took my spanking or whatever it is that I needed to do,” Baddourah said. “I’ve moved on. It’s time to focus on the future of the city.”
This won’t be the first time Baddourah has run for mayor. He was defeated in the 2013 mayoral race by Benjamin.
Baddourah is a restaurateur and owns the Badd Boys Cafe on Middleburg Drive in Columbia.
“In the past two months I have assembled my campaign team and built my business so that it can be self-sustaining once I am in office,” Baddourah said.
The former councilman laid out five priorities for his mayoral platform in a Thursday release: fighting corruption, expanding public safety, improving infrastructure, eliminating business license fees for small businesses, and supporting tax incentives to companies who bring jobs to Columbia.
Baddourah also said he wants to freeze any water rate increases at the city for the next four years. The city increased water rates by 5% this year.
This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 10:21 AM.
