Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina


The mayor of Columbia, South Carolina is elected at large for a four-year term. The duties of the mayor is to create policy and enact laws, rules and regulations for the city of Columbia. Stephen K. Benjamin, who assumed office on July 2010 after a run-off election, is the current mayor of Columbia, and the first to be elected of African descent.
On November 5, 2013, Benjamin received 64% of the total vote, allowing him to remain mayor for four more years.

Mayors of Columbia

TermMayor
1855–1857Edward J. Arthur
1857–1859James D. Tradewell
1859–1861Allen J. Green
1861–1863John H. Boatwright
1863–1865Thomas J. Goodwyn
May 1865 – April 1866James C. Gibbes
April 1866 – July 1868Theodore Stark
July–August 1868Francis L. Guenther
August–November 1868Cyrus H. Baldwin
1868–1870John McKenzie
1870–1878John Alexander
1878–1880William B. Stanley
1880–1882Richard O'Neale Jr.
1882–1890John T. Rhett
1890–1892Fitz William McMaster
1892–1894Walter C. Fisher
1894–1898William M. Sloan
1898–1900Thomas J. Lipscomb
1900–1904Fort Sumter Earle
1904–1908Thomas H. Gibbes
1908–1910William S. Reamer
1910–1914Wade Hampton Gibbes
1914–1918Lewie A. Griffith
1918–1922R. Johnson Blalock
1922–1926William A. Coleman
1926–1941Lawrence B. Owens
1941–1946Fred D. Marshall
1946–1950Frank C. Owens
1950–1954J. Macfie Anderson
1954–1958J. Clarence Dreher
1958–1970Lester L. Bates
1970–1978John T. Campbell
1978–1986Kirkman Finlay, Jr.
1986–1990T. Patton Adams
1990–2010Bob Coble
2010–presentStephen K. Benjamin