Columbia: who represents it, and who is running

U.S. general election / South Carolina statewide general election votes on 2026-11-03. It elects u.S. Senator (Graham seat; appointed Sen. Darline Graham running); U.S. Representatives SC-2 and SC-6; Governor and Lieutenant Governor (open; joint tickets) and the other statewide constitutional offices; SC House (all seats; city hall HD-74); Richland/Lexington County offices and school boards. No SC Senate race (next 2028) and no City of Columbia office (municipal elections are odd-year)..

Holding office14
the sitting council
On the ballot19
4 sitting members running again

The official candidate list ↗ · What Columbia is like — the /local page

Congressional district (city hall): South Carolina's 6th congressional district (city hall); part of the city is in the 2nd — James E. Clyburn (Democratic)

1

Mayor

NameOfficeParty / slateSeatSource
Daniel J. Rickenmann ✉️ Elected Mayor Independent City of Columbia
2

Council Member

NameOfficeParty / slateSeatSource
Edward H. McDowell, Jr. ✉️ Elected Council Member Independent District II City of Columbia
Peter M. Brown ✉️ Elected Council Member Independent District IV City of Columbia
Sam P. Johnson ✉️ Elected Council Member Independent At-Large City of Columbia
Tina N. Herbert ✉️ Elected Council Member Independent District I City of Columbia
Tyler D. Bailey ✉️ Elected Council Member Independent At-Large City of Columbia
Will Brennan ✉️ Elected Council Member Independent District III City of Columbia
3

Governor

NameOfficeParty / slateSeatSource
Henry McMaster Elected Governor Republican Office of the Governor of South Carolina
Alan Wilson Governor Winner 1,050,190 votes · 51.59% Republican South Carolina Election Commission
Jermaine Johnson Governor Concede 959,001 votes · 47.11% Democratic South Carolina Election Commission
Michael Addison Governor Concede 16,111 votes · 0.79% United Citizens South Carolina Election Commission
Walid Hakim Governor Concede 9,078 votes · 0.45% Green South Carolina Election Commission
4

Lieutenant Governor

NameOfficeParty / slateSeatSource
Arnold E Karr Lieutenant Governor Concede 9,078 votes · 0.45% Green South Carolina Election Commission
Candace Brewer Lieutenant Governor Concede 16,111 votes · 0.79% United Citizens South Carolina Election Commission
Mike Reichenbach Lieutenant Governor Winner 1,050,190 votes · 51.59% Republican South Carolina Election Commission
Sam Skardon Lieutenant Governor Concede 959,001 votes · 47.11% Democratic South Carolina Election Commission
5

State Representative — HD-74

NameOfficeParty / slateSeatSource
J. Todd Rutherford Elected State Representative → Winner 10,967 votes · 85.31% Democratic South Carolina Legislature
Collin Shelton State Representative Concede 1,870 votes · 14.55% Republican South Carolina Election Commission
6

State Senator — SD-26

NameOfficeParty / slateSeatSource
Russell L. Ott Elected State Senator Democratic South Carolina Legislature
7

U.S. Senator

NameOfficeParty / slateSeatSource
Tim Scott Elected U.S. Senator Republican @unitedstates congress-legislators legislators-current.json (CC0): SC, term 2023-01-03 to 2029-01-03
Darline Graham Elected U.S. Senator → Concede 951,165 votes · 46.65% Republican @unitedstates legislators-current.json (CC0): SC, appointed term 2026-07-14 to 2027-01-03; candidacy from South Carolina Election Commission
Annie Andrews U.S. Senator Winner 1,042,362 votes · 51.13% Democratic South Carolina Election Commission
Kasie Whitener U.S. Senator Concede 23,560 votes · 1.16% Libertarian South Carolina Election Commission
Mark Hackett U.S. Senator Concede 16,799 votes · 0.82% Constitution South Carolina Election Commission
8

U.S. Representative — SC-2

NameOfficeParty / slateSeatSource
Joe Wilson Elected U.S. Representative → Winner 147,620 votes · 49.84% Republican U.S. House
Dayna Alane Smith U.S. Representative Concede 3,665 votes · 1.24% Workers South Carolina Election Commission
Zyon Khalifa U.S. Representative Concede 144,593 votes · 48.81% Democratic South Carolina Election Commission
9

U.S. Representative — SC-6

NameOfficeParty / slateSeatSource
James E. Clyburn Elected U.S. Representative → Winner 180,559 votes · 69.35% Democratic U.S. House
John Peterson U.S. Representative Concede 79,497 votes · 30.53% Republican South Carolina Election Commission
i

Notes on this record

How the lists were read, and what could not be.

  • Municipal: Mayor Daniel J. Rickenmann and six council members (Districts I–IV, two At-Large) from citycouncil.columbiasc.gov and each council profile, retrieved 2026-10-31; terms as printed on the profiles. Official @columbiasc.gov emails only; phones not copied. City offices are non-partisan: party null, partyShort "None".
  • Next City of Columbia election: November 2027 for the seats whose terms end 12/31/2027 — District II (McDowell), District III (Brennan) and one At-Large (Bailey); the Mayor, District I, District IV and the other At-Large seat began four-year terms in January 2026 (to 12/31/2029). Election date inferred from the term dates; the city elections page was not read.
  • Districts: Census geocoder at city hall → SC-6, SD-26, HD-74. 7x7 coordinate grid (21 points inside Columbia city): SC-6 11 / SC-2 10; Senate SD-35 8, SD-19 5, SD-21 5, SD-26 3; House HD-78 6, HD-73 4, HD-72 3, HD-74 3, HD-70 2, HD-75 2, HD-76 1. Only city hall's legislators are recorded as people. Other Richland House contests on the list covering the city: HD-70 Robert Reese (D, sole); HD-72 Seth Rose (D) v Dixie Kvatek (R); HD-73 Chris Hart (D) v Allen Robertson (R); HD-75 Heather Bauer (D) v Tracy Robins (R) v Joshua Parks (L); HD-76 Leon Howard (D, sole); HD-78 Beth Bernstein (D) v Sonia Pollard (R) v Angelo Joyner Sr (L).
  • Candidates: SC Election Commission Candidate Tracking (vrems.scvotes.sc.gov), 11/3/2026 Statewide General Election, status Active, read 2026-10-31 by office (U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Governor and Lieutenant Governor, State House filtered to Richland County) through the page's own search form. Names as printed on the list (e.g. "James E Jim Clyburn", "J Todd Rutherford"); full names from the House/legislature pages used in the name field. Write-ins excluded.
  • Federal: Clyburn and Wilson from house.gov/representatives; senators from the CC0 @unitedstates legislators-current.json (senate.gov 403 on robots.txt in earlier runs). Governor McMaster from governor.sc.gov. SD-26 and HD-74 from scstatehouse.gov member lists (photos linked).
  • Robots/terms: columbiasc.gov and subdomains citycouncil./mayor. (robots allow), vrems.scvotes.sc.gov (no robots.txt), scstatehouse.gov (robots allow member.php), governor.sc.gov (allows), house.gov (allows /representatives), geocoding.geo.census.gov (no robots.txt). Nothing blocked. standsFor null for everyone. No home addresses, phones or personal emails recorded.
s

Sources

Prepared 2026-10-31. Nomination papers are never opened: they carry home addresses. After voting day a candidate list becomes a result; these rows are reconciled, not deleted.