Four seats on Columbia City Council up for grabs in November. What to know
The race for Columbia City Council has officially begun.
With four vulnerable seats on city council, Columbia’s governing body could see a significant shakeup.
The seats up for election on Nov. 4 include the mayor’s office, currently held by Daniel Rickenmann in his first Mayoral term, the at-large council seat held by Aditi Bussells, and seats for council districts 1 and 4, currently held by Tina Herbert and Peter Brown, respectively.
As of Wednesday morning, all of the incumbents in the race had filed their paperwork to run for re-election.
Several others in Columbia have also publicly stated their intentions to run for council, which is comprised of six council members and the mayor. Council members Tyler Bailey, Will Brennan and Ed McDowell are not up for reelection until November 2027.
Vying for the at-large council seat currently held by Bussells include Sam Johnson, a former city employee who worked in Mayor Steve Benjamin’s office, and Jared Johnson, a local businessman and activist who co-owns All Good Books in Five Points.
Jessica Thomas, a 28-year-old native Columbian, has also publicly declared she will challenge Rickenmann for the mayor’s seat.
None of those individuals had formalized their campaigns with the city as of Thursday morning. Candidates have until Aug. 15 to file to run in the election.
The victors of this race will be tasked with taking on city business that in the recent past has included passing a tight budget with $10 million in new costs; the elimination of an ordinance that banned conversion therapy in Columbia; a concerted focus on redeveloping Columbia’s side of the Congaree River that runs through downtown; and a continued push to relocate homeless services out of downtown and into an as-yet-unpaid-for campus with wraparound services the city has tentatively dubbed the Hope Center.
This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 11:27 AM.
