Controversial councilman files for re-election

The Columbia councilman who has become a lightning rod for some voters, Cameron Runyan, on Wednesday filed to seek a second term in November’s election.

Runyan, a 38-year-old financial professional, said he is running for the citywide seat primarily to protest the economic “undue burden” City Council has put on residents. He has said for months he will seek re-election. On Wednesday, he filed the paperwork at City Hall.

Runyan voted against raising to 5 percent the franchise fee paid to the city by South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., the 9.5 percent hike in water and sewer bills and the city’s $291.6 million annual budget.

He said he would lay out details of his campaign starting next week.

Some of Runyan’s former supporters have been upset by a few votes he has cast and positions he has taken. His sole dissenting vote on council against extending health benefits to Columbia workers who are in same-sex relationships ignited opposition.

The opposition exploded after he wrote a Nov. 23 column in The State newspaper explaining his decision.

“(M)y eyes were opened a few years ago to the reality that increasing moral relativism is contributing to the unraveling of the societal foundations we all depend on,” Runyan wrote. “Because so many now see all moral issues as being relative to the individual, we are quickly becoming a society where absolute moral truth no longer exists.”

Then last spring, he further angered some residents with his opposition to a human rights ordinance and commission that, in part, were intended to protect gay people from discrimination in the city.

Christine Johnson, a lesbian and advocate of gay rights whom the city had hired to draft the plan, said she quit in April because Runyan had obstructed her efforts.

Runyan denied his actions were focused on Johnson. He said his opposition was to the ordinance.

Critics have called Runyan a hypocrite because he sought support from the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community during his political campaigns. He first ran for his current seat and lost to then-incumbent Daniel Rickenmann.

Runyan was among some 100 people who on Saturday protested at Columbia’s Planned Parenthood office. Planned Parenthood has been under criticism because of a video that released recently that shows a doctor affiliated with the organization in California discussing the sale of fetal tissue.

Two challengers – retired state Municipal Association director Howard Duvall and community activist Nammu Muhammad – also have filed for the seat.

Two other contenders have said they will try to unseat the incumbent but have yet to file. They are John Adams, a son of former Mayor Patton Adams, and Andy Smith, head of the Nickelodeon theater on Main Street.

Filing for three seats on council closes at noon Sept. 4.

This story was originally published August 26, 2015 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Controversial councilman files for re-election."