The slate is set: These are the people running for Columbia City Council this year

They’re running.

Filing closed Friday for this year’s Columbia municipal election. There are four seats up for grabs this year in the capital city. The election is set for Nov. 2, with runoffs on Nov. 16 if necessary.

Sets up for election this year include mayor, an at-large post, District 1 and District 4.

Mayor’s race

At the top of the ticket is the mayor’s race, where third-term Mayor Steve Benjamin has chosen not to seek re-election this year. Benjamin is Columbia’s first Black mayor. Four candidates have filed to take his place: former District 3 Councilman Moe Baddourah, at-large City Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine, former Benjamin aide Sam Johnson and District 4 Councilman Daniel Rickenmann.

At-large race

The at-large field is the most crowded among this year’s races, with seven hopefuls lining up to go for the seat that Devine has held for 19 years. At-large council members are elected citywide. The seven candidate are attorney Tyler Bailey, businesswoman Heather Bauer, public health researcher Dr. Aditi Bussells, attorney John Crangle, environmental lobbyist Deitra Stover Matthews, photographer Aaron Smalls and activist John Tyler.

District 1

In District 1, which is in the northern part of the city and includes neighborhoods such as Earlewood and Greenview, Councilman Sam Davis chose not to seek re-election after 23 years. Two candidates filed to pursue the seat: attorney Tina Herbert and state Department of Corrections worker Christa Williams.

District 4

And in District 4, which is in the northeast part of the city and includes neighborhoods such as Kings Grant, Lake Katherine and Gregg Park, only businessman and former state Secretary of Commerce Joe Taylor filed to run, meaning he will likely cruise to the seat.

Editor’s note: The State in recent weeks recorded introduction videos of three mayoral candidates who have been campaigning for months. A fourth candidate, Moe Baddourah, filed to run late Thursday, and The State will have a video with him early next week.

This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 12:10 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.