The wait is over.
Isaiah Hugley, the former longtime city manager of Columbus, will officially launch his campaign for mayor on Monday, Oct. 13, with a public announcement at 11 a.m. at Warehouse 9, located at 920 9th Street in the city’s historic Liberty District.
If elected in the 2026 mayoral race, Hugley would become the 71st mayor of Columbus — and the first Black candidate to be popularly elected to the office. While A.J. McClung, also African American, served briefly as interim mayor in 1973 following the death of Mayor J.R. Allen in a plane crash, he was appointed, not elected.
The race to succeed Mayor Skip Henderson, who is term-limited and ineligible for re-election, has already drawn multiple contenders. Hugley’s entrance into the race adds a high-profile name to an increasingly competitive field…