Rickenmann still holding lead in Columbia mayoral race. Here’s the latest
Daniel Rickenmann was out to a lead Tuesday night as votes came in for the race for Columbia mayor, as Tameika Isaac Devine and Sam Johnson battled for second place and a possible runoff with Rickenmann
Four challengers stepped up to run for the seat that has been held by Mayor Steve Benjamin for three terms. Benjamin didn’t seek re-election this year. Those candidates are Moe Baddourah; Devine; Johnson; and Rickenmann.
Columbia voters also were choosing a new at-large council member and a new District 1 council member. Click here for those results. Click here for results from other towns in Richland and Lexington counties.
Just after 10:10 p.m. Tuesday, a new batch of vote totals came in for the mayor’s race at the Richland County office of elections and voter registration. The early totals were:
Daniel Rickenmann 7,512 (44%)
Tameika Isaac Devine 5,035 (29.5)
Sam Johnson 4,189 (24.5%)
Moe Baddourah 337 (2%)
As of 10:51 p.m., 97% of precincts were reported.
If no candidate finishes with more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers will go to a runoff election on Nov. 16.
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.
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.
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 7:48 PM.
