Stephen K Benjamin

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 and chief legal counsel for Midlands Crimestoppers. 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 2009, Benjamin drew national attention by representing prominent radio host Tom Joyner and securing a pardon for Joyner's great uncles wrongfully convicted in the death of a 73-year-old Confederate veteran and executed in 1913. In a landmark decision, the South Carolina Board of Paroles and Pardons voted unanimously to grant the posthumous pardon, the first for South Carolina in a capital case. Having taken office in July 2010 and reelected by a 30% margin in November 2013, Mayor Benjamin's administration has been characterized by his firm belief in Columbia's potential and intense focus on job creation. In addition to serving as Mayor of Columbia, Mayor Benjamin also serves as Chairman for Municipal Bonds for America and was elected in 2012 as a Trustee with the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He currently teaches a class at the University of South Carolina Honors College titled “Columbia, South Carolina: Building a Great City” and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi and Sigma Pi Phi fraternities. Mayor Benjamin is married to the Honorable DeAndrea Gist Benjamin, Chief Administrative Judge (General Sessions) for South Carolina's Fifth Judicial Circuit. The two are the proud parents of two daughters Bethany (9) and Jordan Grace (6).