The State endorsement: Our choice in the Columbia City Council District One race
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The State Endorsements
Early voting for Columbia’s Nov. 4 elections has begun, and the special election in Lexington County in State House District 88 is Oct. 21 with a potential runoff election Nov. 4. Here are The McClatchy South Carolina Editorial Board’s endorsements.
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The State endorsement: Our choice in the SC House District 88 Republican primary
The State endorsement: Our choice in the Columbia mayor’s race
The State endorsement: Our choice in the at-large Columbia City Council race
The State endorsement: Our choice in the Columbia City Council District Four race
The State endorsement: Our choice in the Columbia City Council District One race
Four years ago, voters in Cottontown, Earlewood, Elmwood Park and other north Columbia neighborhoods that comprise City Council District One elected Tina Herbert over Christa Williams to replace Sam Davis, who retired after an impressive six four-year terms.
The 2021 race wasn’t close. Herbert defeated Williams by a wide margin, 1,867-1,576.
This year voters have the same two choices in the Tuesday, Nov. 4 election, and the margin may be even bigger once all the ballots have been cast. Early voting begins Monday, Oct. 20.
In all, Columbia’s mayor and three City Council members face re-election challenges this fall, and the McClatchy South Carolina Editorial Board is making endorsements in each race after interviewing the candidates and independently researching them and their backgrounds.
In the Columbia City Council District One race, our choice was clear.
Herbert, 51, now has four years of experience at City Hall. She has a handle on issues, her heart in the community and a focus on making a difference. Asked what issue deserves more attention, she said the recruitment of police officers: “Without adequate staffing, officers have less time for community- and relationship-building, which is essential to building public trust.”
She has seen the city change for the better and, sometimes, worse. She remembers spending her lunch breaks at Finlay Park in the early 2000s and plans to return regularly now that the city has spent nearly $25 million to renovate the park. After that investment, she said, the city must budget for security and maintenance costs to keep the park from losing its luster as it did before.
In her first term, she said she has “worked to show that serving on the City Council is an opportunity to change lives.” That approach has helped the city launch the Mobile Food Market to address food insecurity and the Office of Neighborhood Engagement to combat youth violence. She’s also created a youth services guide to keep the city’s young people safe and occupied, and worked to preserve Columbia’s Black history. Yet she said, “There’s more to do.”
A personal injury attorney who previously was director of the city’s Office of Business Opportunities, Herbert is vowing to “keep fighting for more economic investment, safer neighborhoods and cleaner streets.” That was the last line in the last answer of our Q&A. She was explaining why voters should choose her over her opponent, and she made a strong case.
She also showed her backbone in June when she was on the losing end of a first and then a second 4-3 vote to repeal the city’s conversion therapy ban. While council members Tyler Bailey, Aditi Bussells and Herbert opposed repealing the ban, a council majority did so after state officials threatened to cut millions in state funding for Columbia if the council did not.
Herbert’s impassioned remarks before the first vote showed why voters elected her.
“As a Black female, African American female, growing up in Columbia, South Carolina, born and raised, I know that feeling of walking into rooms and not feeling comfortable,” she told her Council colleagues. “I can say, today, even as a member of City Council, there are places here in Columbia that I’m not made to feel welcome. … I think it needs to be said, and I think it needs to be heard, how people treat you has so much to do with how you see yourself in this space and how you see yourself in this world and where you belong, and I needed to say that.”
Williams, 41, didn’t demonstrate that same passion or commitment as the incumbent or show that she knew as much as her about major issues like public safety and economic development.
Her closing answer also felt like too petty of a personal attack for a public servant. Asked why voters should pick her, Williams said, “I am not running to tout my credentials and sit back with a feeling of entitlement because I grew up and went to school in a local neighborhood.”
Williams worked for the South Carolina Department of Corrections. She served in the South Carolina Army National Guard. She now owns Uncle Willie’s Grocery Store. But voting records show she did not vote in Columbia’s general elections in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Williams’ overall pitch falls far short of Herbert’s, in our view. This is also Williams’ fifth bid for elected office in five years. After losing to Herbert in 2021, Williams lost an at-large City Council election in 2023 and Richland County Council and Richland 1 school board races last year.
In short, Herbert has seized her opportunity, and Williams seems to be seeking any opportunity.
The McClatchy South Carolina Editorial Board recommends the re-election of Tina Herbert for Columbia City Council.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow we do endorsements
Members of The McClatchy South Carolina Editorial Board interviewed and researched candidates running for mayor and City Council in Columbia and Myrtle Beach and in a special election in SC House District 88 in Lexington County in 2025. We based endorsements on our reporting and fact-checking — and on each candidate’s achievements, background, character, demeanor and experience.
The endorsements were made by South Carolina Opinion Editor Matthew T. Hall, a Columbia resident; Sherry Beasley, a longtime educator and Columbia resident; Toni Etheridge, a strategic advisor and writer who lives in Forest Acres; Paul Osmundson, a retired senior editor at The State and a Forest Acres resident; and Pat Robertson, a retired editor and outdoors columnist who lives in Blythewood.
If you have questions or comments about our endorsements, please email Hall at mhall@thestate.com.
