Tina Herbert wins re-election in Columbia City Council race
Tina Herbert will get another four years representing Columbia’s northwestern district, District 1.
Herbert, a worker’s compensation attorney and former head of Columbia’s community development department, won with more than 62% of votes cast in that race Tuesday, with 1,783 ballots cast in her favor. Her opponent Christa Williams trailed with about 36% of the ballots, winning 1,037 votes by the end of Tuesday night.
The results are unofficial until they are certified, which typically happens the Friday following election day.
Herbert grew up in and currently lives in the city’s 29203 zip code, which has a storied history, particularly for African American-led businesses and neighborhoods. Today, the district is widely considered under-resourced, and fraught with less access to grocery stores and healthcare than other parts of the city, while also having generally lower home values.
The district’s community leaders have asked the city council for help with promoting attainable housing, more job opportunities and programs for youth, and a concerted effort to reduce vacant storefronts and improve the aesthetics of an area that many who live there feel is oversaturated with convenience stores and vacant lots.
The race to represent the district was a repeat of 2021, with Tina Herbert and Christa Williams battling for the seat, same as they did four years ago.
Herbert came out ahead in 2021 with 54% of the votes cast in that district.
Herbert’s campaign has focused on her pre-existing knowledge of city government, as she was previously a city employee running the Columbia Community Development Department. She has also touted her support for a mobile grocery market that serves the district, and she has talked about future development opportunities for North Main Street.
Among her ideas for the future is creating a grant program that will allow small businesses to get money to update their building exteriors and storefronts – an effort she led downtown when she was with the city.
This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 11:27 PM.
