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City elections in Columbia, South Carolina (2025)
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Special state legislative • School boards • Municipal • All local elections by county • How to run for office |
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← 2023
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| 2025 Columbia elections |
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| Election dates |
| Filing deadline: August 15, 2025 |
| General election: November 4, 2025 Runoff election: November 18, 2025 |
| Election stats |
| Offices up: Mayor and city council |
| Total seats up: 4 (click here for mayoral elections) |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2025 |
The city of Columbia, South Carolina, held general elections for mayor and city council on November 4, 2025. A general runoff election was scheduled for November 18, 2025. The filing deadline for this election was August 15, 2025.
Click here to learn more about the city's mayoral election.
Ballotpedia comprehensively covers the 100 largest cities in the United States by population. Our coverage also includes mayors, city councils, and district attorneys in the 32 state capitals that are not already part of our largest cities coverage. Please note that there may have been more offices on the ballot in this capital city than what is listed on this page.
Elections
Click on the tabs below to show more information about those topics.
Candidates and results
City council
At-large
General runoff election
General runoff election for Columbia City Council District At-large
Sam Johnson defeated incumbent Aditi Bussells in the general runoff election for Columbia City Council District At-large on November 18, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Sam Johnson (Nonpartisan) | 55.7 | 5,710 | |
| Aditi Bussells (Nonpartisan) | 44.3 | 4,540 | ||
| Total votes: 10,250 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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General election
General election for Columbia City Council District At-large
Sam Johnson and incumbent Aditi Bussells advanced to a runoff. They defeated Jared Johnson and Tony Bowen in the general election for Columbia City Council District At-large on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Sam Johnson (Nonpartisan) | 47.4 | 7,146 | |
| ✔ | Aditi Bussells (Nonpartisan) | 43.2 | 6,514 | |
| Jared Johnson (Nonpartisan) | 6.1 | 915 | ||
| Tony Bowen (Nonpartisan) | 3.3 | 503 | ||
| Total votes: 15,078 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
District 1
General election
General election for Columbia City Council District 1
Incumbent Tina Herbert defeated Christa Williams in the general election for Columbia City Council District 1 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Tina Herbert (Nonpartisan) | 62.8 | 1,783 | |
 | Christa Williams (Nonpartisan) | 36.5 | 1,037 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.7 | 20 | ||
| Total votes: 2,840 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
District 4
General runoff election
General runoff election for Columbia City Council District 4
Incumbent Peter Brown defeated Julie Lumpkin in the general runoff election for Columbia City Council District 4 on November 18, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Peter Brown (Nonpartisan) | 54.4 | 2,185 | |
| Julie Lumpkin (Nonpartisan) | 45.6 | 1,835 | ||
| Total votes: 4,020 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
General election
General election for Columbia City Council District 4
Incumbent Peter Brown and Julie Lumpkin advanced to a runoff. They defeated Ashley McCall in the general election for Columbia City Council District 4 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Peter Brown (Nonpartisan) | 46.7 | 2,530 | |
| ✔ | Julie Lumpkin (Nonpartisan) | 29.6 | 1,602 | |
| Ashley McCall (Nonpartisan) | 23.7 | 1,285 | ||
| Total votes: 5,417 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: South Carolina elections, 2025
November 4, 2025
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About the city
- See also: Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is a city in Richland County, South Carolina. As of 2020, its population was 136,632.
City government
- See also: Council-manager government
The city of Columbia uses a council-manager form of government. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council—which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body—appoints a chief executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the council's policy and legislative initiatives.[1][2]
Demographics
The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.
| Demographic Data for Columbia, South Carolina | ||
|---|---|---|
| Columbia | South Carolina | |
| Population | 136,632 | 5,118,425 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 137 | 30,064 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White | 52.6% | 66.5% |
| Black/African American | 39.6% | 26.4% |
| Asian | 2.8% | 1.6% |
| Native American | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Other (single race) | 1.2% | 2% |
| Multiple | 3.4% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 5.8% | 5.8% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate | 90% | 88.3% |
| College graduation rate | 43.4% | 29% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income | $47,416 | $54,864 |
| Persons below poverty level | 22.8% | 14.7% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020). | ||
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
See also
| Columbia, South Carolina | South Carolina | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
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External links
Footnotes
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