Mayoral elections in Columbia, South Carolina

Mayoral elections in Columbia are held every four years to elect the mayor of Columbia, South Carolina.

All Columbia municipal elections are required to be non-partisan, but most candidates can be affiliated with political parties. Columbia uses a two-round system, where election runoffs are held if no candidate obtains the majority of the vote.

2010 special
The 2010 Columbia mayoral special election took place on April 6, 2010, to elect the next mayor of Charleston, South Carolina. Incumbent Democratic Mayor Bob Coble did not seek re-election. A runoff was held on April 21, 2010, since no candidate surpassed 50%. In the runoff Democrat Stephen K. Benjamin defeated Republican candidate Kirkman Finlay III. Daniel became the first African American mayor of Columbia.

2013
The 2013 Columbia mayoral election took place on November 5, 2013, to elect the mayor of Charleston, South Carolina. Incumbent Democratic Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin won re-election to a full term. There was no need for a runoff election since Benjamin received more than 50% of the vote.

2017
Incumbent Democratic Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin was the only candidate to file; he was automatically declared re-elected with no votes.

2021
The 2021 Columbia mayoral election took place on November 2, 2021, to elect the next mayor of Charleston, South Carolina. Incumbent Democratic Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin did not seek re-election to a third term. A runoff was held on November 16, 2021, since no candidate surpassed 50%. In the runoff Republican Daniel Rickenmann defeated Democratic candidate Tameika Isaac Devine. Daniel became the first Republican mayor of Colombia since 1990.

The election was officially non-partisan, but some candidates were affiliated with political parties.

Devine was endorsed by former U.S. president Barack Obama and House Whip Jim Clyburn. Previously, Columbia has historically voted for Democratic candidates, including Joe Biden for U.S. president by nearly 40 points. Its two previous mayors, Bob Coble and Steve Benjamin were Democrats. Some Republicans, including Ben Shapiro and United States Senator Rick Scott of Florida, cited Rickenmann's win as part of a "red wave."