Surprise candidate enters race to be next Columbus mayor on last day of qualifying
Columbus lawyer Chris Breault has entered the race for Columbus Mayor, qualifying as a candidate Friday.
Breault’s surprise candidacy came as the qualifying period ended at noon Friday.
Columbus is a city in decline, he told the Ledger-Enquirer in a text message, mentioning trash on roads and poorly maintained parks.
“I think if you want real change and the possibility of creating a far different and better city, then you can’t do it with the same old tired actors,” he said. “You need people with new ideas and new energy.”
A graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, Breault specializes in personal injury and car accidents. He has been involved in several million-dollar lawsuits and represented former Columbus District Attorney Mark Jones in a misconduct case.
Last year, Breault clashed with the Supreme Court of Georgia after it gave him a six-month suspension of his law license for violations of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct because of events that occurred in a 2017 case.
“I stand by my work in that case. I’m the first lawyer in Georgia history that they’ve ever accused of breaking these rules like this,” Breault wrote in a statement emailed to the Ledger-Enquirer then. “I was part of a team of four (4) lawyers and I’m the only one they say violated a Bar rule. For years, they wanted me to take some slap-on-the-wrist penalty as long as I admitted I did something wrong. I refused, because I did nothing wrong.”
The other mayoral candidates who have qualified for the race are Jaketra Bryant, Joanne Cogle, Isaiah Hugley, Steve Kelly and Mark LaJoye.
Breault wants to change the Columbus government.
“I am running for Mayor with the hope that we can create a new City Government with new people who can move past the petty grievances that have dominated our local politics for the past couple of years,” he wrote in his text message.
This story was originally published March 6, 2026 at 5:00 PM.
