Former member's daughter among Columbus Council candidates. Updated list here
Council seats representing Districts 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 will be up for election May 19. Councilors Byron Hickey, Bruce Huff, Charmaine Crabb, Joanne Coglle and John Anker sit in these seats, respectively.
After the council voted to appoint Anker to the citywide District 9 seat, Royal Anderson, chairwoman of the Muscogee County Democratic Committee, promised in a March 25 council meeting that her organization would work to campaign against councilors who voted for the appointment.
While council seats are nonpartisan, Anderson argued that 'about every decision made in these chambers means either blue or red.'
A coalition called Columbus, GA, United arose after the decision with the intent to support a unity candidate for races in the upcoming election. Leaders from organizations, including the Columbus branch of the NAACP and the Columbus Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, worked together on the plan after holding multiple news conferences condemning Anker's appointment.
Here's who has filed paperwork declaring their intention to run for the Columbus Council in 2026. This list will be updated with more information as it becomes available and new candidates join the race.
Simi Barnes, the daughter of the late Columbus Councilor Jerry 'Pops' Barnes, filed paperwork to run for District 1.
Barnes criticized the council's decision last year to have Byron Hickey succeed Pops as the District 1 councilor and fill the remaining two years of his term. She also was among the residents who attended the March 25 council meeting to criticize the council's decision to appoint Anker to the District 9 seat.
She filed her declaration of intention to run for the District 1 seat July 11.
The Ledger-Enquirer didn't reach Barnes for comment before publication.
Christopher Kelley filed a declaration of intention to run for the District 7 seat July 11.
Kelley or a campaign representative didn't provived the Ledger-Enquirer with background information about him before publication.
Rocky Marsh was the first candidate to file a declaration of intention for next years council election June 12. He is running for the District 9 at-large seat.
Marsh is a retired U.S. Army Veteran and a U.S. Department of Defense civil servant budget analyst at Fort Benning. He also serves on the Columbus Crime Prevention Committee.
He previously ran for the District 10 at-large council seat in 2024, but lost in a four-candidate race to Travis Chambers.
'I believe every family and neighborhood in Columbus deserves to be heard, in a safe, thriving community with a positive quality of life,' Marsh told the Ledger-Enquirer. 'I'm running because Columbus needs leaders with varied perspectives, who are present, accountable, and ready to represent issues and challenges facing our city.'
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