Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin

Term: July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2014

In a record turnout, Steve Benjamin was elected Mayor of Columbia in April of 2010.

He has worked very actively in community initiatives with numerous public and private organizations dating back to his years at the University of South Carolina where he served as President of the Student Government and as Student Bar Association President at the USC School of Law.

Mayor Benjamin has continued that service through the present, serving on numerous boards for nonprofit organizations such as the Columbia Urban League, Benedict College, the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce and as a Founding Board Member of the Eau Claire Promise Zone. He also served as a founding member of Choose Children First. 

In 1999, at age 29 Benjamin was appointed to Governor Jim Hodges’ Cabinet as director of the state’s second largest law enforcement agency, the Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services.

In addition to his work as Mayor, Benjamin serves as Managing Partner of the Benjamin Law Firm, LLC. He is married to the former DeAndrea Gist, and they are the proud parents of two daughters Bethany (5) and Jordan Grace (3). The Benjamins are members of Saint John Baptist Church in Columbia.