Daniel Rickenmann elected Columbia’s next mayor

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Daniel Rickenmann is Columbia’s Mayor-Elect after Tameika Isaac Devine concedes the election.

A hand count audit took place Wednesday morning, according to Richland County Election officials.

The City of Columbia Municipal Election Commission met again on Thursday morning to certify the results of the Municipal Runoff Election.

Those official results tallied 10,602 votes (52.02%) for Rickenmann and 9,778 votes (47.98%) for Isaac Devine.

This comes after widespread reports of polling issues in Columbia.

Rickenmann has been a longtime resident of Columbia since 1988. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina in 1992 and was first elected to the Columbia City Council in 2004.

In 2012, Rickenmann did not seek re-election to focus on his family and business. In 2017, he ran once again and has been serving as the Columbia City Councilmember for District 4.

Through his track record of public service, he eventually decided to run for Mayor of Columbia with his love for the city and vision for advancing the city’s safety, business ecosystem, and infrastructure.

Below is WIS’s mayoral debate from Thursday 11/11:

RELATED | Columbia mayoral candidates debate the issues

Rickenmann looks to propel the City of Columbia forward by prioritizing public safety and creating job opportunities that promise advancement.

The issues (per Daniel Rickenmann’s website):

• Prioritize Public Safety
  • Public safety is Rickenmann’s top priority. In prioritizing this, he believes Columbia will become a cleaner and safer place with the correct conditions to live and raise a family.
• Support Small Business Owners
  • Through recent tax studies, obstacles that businesses must overcome to succeed have become clear. By making it easier to start a new business and grow existing ones, Rickenmann believes Columbia’s small business community will thrive.
• Repair Infrastructure
  • Reliable infrastructure is proposed to be available by Rickenmann by partnering with locally owned construction companies to work on fixing roads and water leaks.
• Build Better and More Affordable Housing
  • Affordable housing would allow for Columbia families to thrive in Rickenmann’s eyes. The local workforce could be boosted by creating more accessible housing opportunities.
• Create Job Opportunities that Promise Advancement
  • Removing barriers that discourage new investments may welcome innovation that could ultimately lead to new and existing businesses flourishing.
• Generate Growth by Finishing Projects
  • Many projects around the city have been left unfinished (Bull Street District, Finlay Park, etc.), and when completed, Rickenmann believes those projects will improve the quality of life in Columbia.
• Bring Innovation to our City Government
  • As city governments carry out services through taxpayer funding, Rickenmann feels that the citizens of Columbia are owed the best return on investment by ensuring accountability down to the cent.

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