Columbia will elect new mayor, council member Tuesday. Here’s who’s on the ballot
Columbia will elect its 37th mayor on Tuesday.
After nearly 10 months of nonstop campaigning, at-large Columbia City Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine and District 4 City Councilman Daniel Rickenmann will meet in a runoff election on Tuesday. There will also be a runoff election for an at-large seat on city council on the Tuesday ballot, pitting attorney Tyler Bailey against public health researcher Dr. Aditi Bussells.
Rickenmann finished atop the initial mayoral voting on Nov. 2, taking in 43.5% of the vote. Devine finished second with 30.2%, while former mayoral aide Sam Johnson got 24.3%. Former City Councilman Moe Baddourah got 1.9%
Devine and Rickenmann are battling to succeed Mayor Steve Benjamin, who chose not to seek re-election after three terms. Benjamin, Columbia’s first African American mayor, has endorsed Devine in the runoff after initially endorsing Johnson ahead of Nov. 2. Johnson also has endorsed Devine in the runoff.
The mayoral hopefuls stumped on a number of topics in a Thursday televised debate on WIS.
Rickenmann said during the debate that finishing high profile projects, like the BullStreet District, a Finlay Park renovation and connections along Columbia’s riverside greenways, would be a major priority for him.
Columbia has long been discussing an $18 million plan to overhaul the aging, battered Finlay Park. Rickenmann said he is hopeful there could be money in the recently passed federal infrastructure bill that could help.
“We had a great planner on our city staff draw a great plan (for Finlay Park) that gets us going and gives us a beautiful basis,” Rickenmann said. “Now we have an opportunity to fund that. With the infrastructure bill passing, there is a ton of money for parks and other things that we could use as leverage to get that, along with other funding sources we’ve put into play.”
Devine placed an emphasis on infrastructure during the WIS debate, also noting that funding from the federal infrastructure bill could be significant for the capital city. She said she is a board member for the National League of Cities, which lobbied for passage of the infrastructure package. She listed some of the areas where the funding could be helpful.
“There are areas of the city that have not been invested in,” Devine said. “There are areas of the city that do not have sidewalks. That’s an infrastructure project. There are parts of this city that do not have broadband, and that is an infrastructure project.”
In looking at precinct numbers from the Nov. 2 election, Rickenmann showed particular strength at the polling location at Kilbourne Park Baptist Church, which is the combined polling place for Wards 24 and 25. That’s in the northeast part of the city where Rickenmann has served as a city councilman. Elections records show Rickenmann got 1,227 votes in that polling place, while Devine got 109. Johnson got 117 votes at that polling place.
Nearly 70% of the votes Rickenmann received Nov. 2 came from 14 precincts. The city has 77 precincts in all.
Meanwhile, Devine’s strongest showing on Nov. 2 came in the Greenview precinct at Greenview Park. Elections records show she got 295 votes at that polling place, while Rickenmann got 14. Johnson picked up 204 votes at Greenview.
It seems clear that it will be critical for Devine to convince Johnson voters to back her in Tuesday’s runoff, while Rickenmann likely will once again push for heavy turnout in the precincts where he performed well on Nov. 2.
Meanwhile, there were initially seven candidates in the field for an at-large seat on council, the largest group in this year’s municipal elections. On Nov. 2, Bussells finished first in the pack for the citywide seat with 5,841 votes (32%), followed by Tyler Bailey, who had 4,689 votes (25.7%). Now they are set to meet in Tuesday’s runoff.
Both are seeking elected office for the first time. They are running to fill the at-large seat that has been held by Devine for nearly 20 years.
During a recent Columbia Council of Neighborhoods forum, Bailey said Columbia is at a “critical crossroads” as multiple council seats are changing hands.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to move the city forward,” Bailey said. “I’m going to address issues that need to be addressed, like the rise of violent crime, the lack of opportunity for our young and best and brightest people, and making sure growth fits the communities where it’s supposed to be, and I’m going to do it in a way that is fair and right for everybody.”
Also at the Council of Neighborhoods candidate forum, Bussells said she would work to ensure safe neighborhoods and push for more accountability in local government.
“I want to work alongside my community, the place that I live and that I call home, and continue to use the skills that I have honed in on and strengthened in public health in local government,” Bussells said. “Now is the time to have somebody who understands data and science and who has a diverse group of supporters across Columbia.”
As during the Nov. 2 election, some precincts will have new voting locations for the runoff. Per a list from city elections officials, they are:
▪ Ward 1, formerly located at the Lourie Senior Center, is now combined with Ward 33 at Martin Luther King Park, 2300 Greene St.
▪ Ward 2, formerly located at the Marion Street Apartments, is now located at Main Street United Methodist Church, 1830 Main St.
▪ Ward 24 and 25 are combined at Kilbourne Park Baptist Church, 4205 Kilbourne Road.
▪ Ward 31 remains at Hyatt Park Elementary in the gym, 4200 N. Main Street
▪ Harbison 2, formerly located at New Heights Baptist Church, is now combined with Harbison 1 at Harbison Community Center, 106 Hillpine Road.
▪ Pine Grove and Walden will be combined at Pine Grove Elementary School, 111 Huffstetler Dr.
▪ Riverside, formerly located at Virginia Wingard United Methodist Church, is now combined with St. Andrews at St. Andrews Middle, 1231 Bluefield Drive.
▪ South Beltline, formerly at Sherwood Forest Presbyterian Church, is moving to the Midlands Technical College Beltline Campus Student Center.
▪ In the Lexington County areas that vote in Columbia elections, Challedon and Quail Valley will be combined at St. Andrews Baptist Church, 6592 St. Andrews Road.
In-person absentee voting will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday at 2020 Hampton St. and 2011 Hampton St. On Tuesday, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
This story was originally published November 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
