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 Running Republican South Carolina Election Commission
Jermaine Johnson Governor Running Democratic South Carolina Election Commission
Michael Addison Governor Running United Citizens South Carolina Election Commission
Walid Hakim Governor Running Green South Carolina Election Commission
4

Lieutenant Governor

NameOfficeParty / slateSeatSource
Arnold E Karr Lieutenant Governor Running Green South Carolina Election Commission
Candace Brewer Lieutenant Governor Running United Citizens South Carolina Election Commission
Mike Reichenbach Lieutenant Governor Running Republican South Carolina Election Commission
Sam Skardon Lieutenant Governor Running Democratic South Carolina Election Commission
5

State Representative — HD-74

NameOfficeParty / slateSeatSource
J. Todd Rutherford Elected State Representative → Running Democratic South Carolina Legislature
Collin Shelton State Representative Running 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 → Running 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 Running Democratic South Carolina Election Commission
Kasie Whitener U.S. Senator Running Libertarian South Carolina Election Commission
Mark Hackett U.S. Senator Running Constitution South Carolina Election Commission
8

U.S. Representative — SC-2

NameOfficeParty / slateSeatSource
Joe Wilson Elected U.S. Representative → Running Republican U.S. House
Dayna Alane Smith U.S. Representative Running Workers South Carolina Election Commission
Zyon Khalifa U.S. Representative Running Democratic South Carolina Election Commission
9

U.S. Representative — SC-6

NameOfficeParty / slateSeatSource
James E. Clyburn Elected U.S. Representative → Running Democratic U.S. House
John Peterson U.S. Representative Running 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.