COLUMBIA, S.C. — Longtime Columbia City Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine is running to be the next mayor of Columbia, saying she wants to be an advocate for everyone in the city.
Devine confirmed her intentions to seeks the office in an interview with News19 anchor Darci Strickland, hours ahead of her formal announcement at a noon news conference Friday. She becomes the second city councilmember to announce a run, after Daniel Rickenmann told News19 Thursday night that he’ll seek the office as well.
Devine’s decision also comes a day after incumbent Mayor Steve Benjamin announced he wouldn’t seek reelection after 11 years in office. Instead, he said he plans to focus on his family and his law firm.
A friend of Benjamin, she said she feels she can be the one to succeed him.
“This opportunity to run for mayor is the next step for me to give back—give back in a better way, a bigger way,” she told Strickland.
Devine is the first black councilwoman in the history of the city, and the first to black at-large councilperson ever, first getting elected back in 2002. The city has two at-large positions, which means that councilperson represents the entire city, not just one district.
She says that perspective is an advantage.
“I understand the issues, I know the people,” she says. “As a Columbia native, I love this community and I know the opportunities we have in front of us. So I think as mayor I can add that leadership that we need to continue to move forward but also to take advantage of the opportunities we have in front of us.”
While in office, Devine has advocated for women and children’s issues, and help establish the city’s criminal domestic task force. But she said she wants to be an advocate for everyone.
“Making sure everyone that every single person, no matter where you live in the city of Columbia, that you have an advocate in the mayor’s office but also somebody in the mayor’s office that can make things happen.,” she said.
Devine is a founding partner of the law firm Jabber & Isaac where she works on real estate and other business transactions. She grew up in Columbia and is married to Jamie Devine, who’s a member of the Richland One School Board.