Every open seat on Columbia City Council will be challenged in November
Every vulnerable member of Columbia City Council will see their seats challenged during the upcoming November election.
The seats up for election on Nov. 4 include the mayor’s office, currently held by Daniel Rickenmann in his first 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.
All four of those council members will run to keep their seats. And each of them will face at least one challenger. Here is what we know after filing for the election closed Friday. The State is reaching out for more information about some of the candidates.
Mayor
Rickenmann’s two challengers are Jessica Thomas and Wade Fulmer Jr.
Rickenmann served as an at-large council member for a decade, between 2004 and 2013, and then as the council representative for Columbia’s District 4, near Forest Acres, from 2018 through 2021.
He ran for mayor in 2021, narrowly defeating a fellow-former council member Tameika Isaac Devine. Devine has since been elected to the South Carolina Statehouse.
His challengers include 28-year-old Jessica Thomas, a native-Columbian whose campaign centers on rent stabilization and focusing on ways to bring financial relief to residents as the cost-of-living continues to rise.
Also running for mayor is Wade Fulmer Jr.
At-large council seat
Running for the open at-large seat is incumbent Bussells, as well as three challengers. They are Tony Bowen, Sam Johnson (a former city employee who worked in Mayor Steve Benjamin’s office) and Jared Lee Johnson (a local businessman and activist who co-owns All Good Books in Five Points.)
Bussells won her seat in 2021 during a run-off election against Tyler Bailey, who has since been elected to Columbia’s other at-large council seat. The at-large council members are meant to represent the entire city, rather than serving specific geographic districts.
District 1 council seat
Attorney and former city employee Tina Herbert won the District 1 council seat in 2021, succeeding longtime council member Sam Davis. District 1 covers much of North Columbia. Herbert is running for re-election, and is being challenged by Christa Williams, a frequent candidate for local office and owner of Uncle Willie’s Grocery Store on North Main Street.
District 4 council seat
Local businessman Peter Brown won his seat representing Columbia’s District 4, near Forest Acres, during a special election in 2023. The special election was held after the death of Councilman Joe Taylor, who had won the seat in the 2021 election. Taylor died unexpectedly in late December 2022.
Brown will run to keep his seat. He is being challenged by Ashley McCall and Julie Lumpkin.
