Columbia votes for a new mayor, council members Tuesday. Here’s what SC voters need to know
After nine months of campaigning, the moment has nearly arrived for a pivotal election that will see a makeover of the Columbia City Council, including the mayor’s seat.
The Columbia municipal election will be Tuesday, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. across the capital city. Four seats are up for election this year: mayor, an at-large post, District 1 and District 4. At-large seats are elected citywide.
The dominoes for this year’s races began to fall in February when Mayor Steve Benjamin, who has served for three terms, announced he wouldn’t seek re-election. Benjamin is Columbia’s first African American mayor and has maintained a high-profile while in Columbia’s top political seat, including a run when he was the president of the national U.S. Conference of Mayors.
With Benjamin choosing to step out of the mayoral role, District 1 Councilman Sam Davis electing to not seek re-election after nearly a quarter century, and at-large City Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine and District 4 City Councilman Daniel Rickenmann running for mayor, as many as four new faces could be coming to the seven-member City Council.
There are four people running for mayor: Devine, Rickenmann, former District 3 Councilman Moe Baddourah, and Sam Johnson, a former chief of staff to Benjamin.
Baddourah, a restaurateur, represented District 3 in southeast Columbia for two terms, but was defeated in a 2019 re-election bid by Will Brennan. While the other candidates in the race have effectively been campaigning since February, Baddourah came in comparatively late, launching his campaign in August. Some of the key planks in his platform have been a push to freeze water and sewer rates for four years, and establishing police sub-stations in neighborhoods.
Devine, an attorney, has held an at-large seat on Columbia City Council for 19 years. She is the only African American woman to ever be elected to the council and she is vying to be the first woman elected Columbia’ mayor. Some of the key pieces of her campaign have been the idea of establishing an equity office at the city and enhancing regional cooperation to tackle issues. She has been endorsed by Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of Columbia.
Johnson, who works as a consultant, was Benjamin’s chief of staff for six years and is making his first run for elected office. Benjamin has endorsed his campaign. Johnson has called for the creation of a chief health officer position at the city to deal with the pandemic and other public health concerns, and has stressed the need for Columbia to fill vacant police officer positions.
Rickenmann, who works in renewable energy development, has served three terms on City Council across two different stints. He has raised the most campaign cash for the race — more than $400,000 as of Oct. 19 — and has often focused his campaign on business and public safety issues. He has been endorsed by the Central Carolina Realtors Association.
Meanwhile, seven hopefuls are vying for the at-large seat that Devine is exiting. The candidates include attorney Tyler Bailey, IT professional Heather Bauer, public health researcher Dr. Aditi Bussells, attorney John Crangle, environmental lobbyist Deitra Matthews, photographer Aaron Smalls and activist John Tyler.
In District 1, which is in the northern section of the city, Davis has been the council representative for 23 years. But with his retirement, two hopefuls are seeking the seat: attorney Tina Herbert, who once led the city’s Office of Business Opportunities, and Christa Williams, an officer with the South Carolina Department of Corrections and member of the South Carolina Army National Guard.
And in District 4, in the northeast part of the city, businessman and former state Secretary of Commerce Joe Taylor is the only candidate on the ballot, and will likely secure the seat.
The city of Columbia Election Commission and Richland County Office of Elections and Voter Registration announced a handful of voter precinct changes for Tuesday’s election. They are:
▪ Ward 1, formerly located at the Lourie Senior Center, is now combined with Ward 33 at Martin Luther King Park, 2300 Greene St.
▪ Ward 2, formerly located at the Marion Street Apartments, is now located at Main Street United Methodist Church, 1830 Main St.
▪ Ward 31 remains at Hyatt Park Elementary in the gym, 4200 N. Main Street
▪ Harbison 2, formerly located at New Heights Baptist Church, is now combined with Harbison 1 at Harbison Community Center, 106 Hillpine Road.
▪ Riverside, formerly located at Virginia Wingard United Methodist Church, is now combined with St. Andrews at St. Andrews Middle, 1231 Bluefield Drive.
▪ South Beltline, formerly at Sherwood Forest Presbyterian Church, is moving to the Midlands Technical College Beltline Campus Student Center.
In-person absentee voting also will be available from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday at 2020 Hampton St. and 2011 Hampton St.
To read more about the city elections, visit www.thestate.com/voter-guide.
