City Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine held a solid lead throughout the night Tuesday to easily recapture her at-large seat.

As of 8:55 p.m., with 54 of 57 precincts reporting, Devine was leading with 64.52 percent of the vote, or 8,005 ballots cast.

Christopher Barczak was in second place with 3,034 votes, 23.61 percent, followed by Kelly Coleman with 1,547 votes, 12.04 percent. Antonio Williams had 254 votes, 1.98 percent.

Devine said her ability to appeal to an array of voters — old and young, Republican and Democrat, black and white — was critical in her campaign.

“I’m glad the campaigning is over, but I’m very happy and I’m very pleased with the turnout,” she said. “You can tell the turnout was higher than it was four years ago, and I got a larger percentage than I had four years ago.

“I really believe that goes to the service I rendered. ....”

But even as early as 11 a.m., Devine was optimistic about her chances.

“It’s going well.” she said as she left Earlewood Park, dropping off Krispy Kreme doughnuts with her husband, Jamie Devine. “Of course, you can never tell, but everyone I’ve talked to at the polls have been very encouraging.

“I don’t get the feeling like there’s one issue that will draw people,” she said. “I think it’s mainly the candidates.”

Barczak and Coleman were hoping for a runoff.

“I admire anyone who puts their hat in the ring,” said Jeff Thore, 44, who campaigned for Barczak. “You take all the slings and arrows along with it. I know it’s just difficult to run. You put your name out there, and you take the good with the bad.”

Issues like neighborhood revitalization and streetscaping brought out voters.

“I do think there are some real issues with the streetscaping,” said Elizabeth Boggs, 28, a medical student at the University of South Carolina. “I do understand the dissatisfaction with that, but pretty much I think things are going as normal — at least in my little bubble.”

“We just felt it was important to come out and see who was going to be our leaders for the next four years,” said Robin Fowler, 48, a sales rep.

“Obviously, we would like the pace of progress to pick up in north Columbia,” said Josh Fowler, 43, a sales manager and Robin’s husband. “It seems like our (area) is always neglected and last as far as progress.”

“We moved to Eau Claire because we felt it was underutilized, underdeveloped,” Robin Fowler said. “And we wanted to put people in office that are really going to have a vision — do the right thing here, like the other neighborhoods. I don’t understand why we can’t have what they have.”