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Barbara Buffaloe
American politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Barbara Buffaloe (born November 2, 1980) is an American politician. She is serving her second term as the Mayor of Columbia, Missouri and chair of the Columbia City Council.[3] She was re-elected as mayor in the 2025 mayoral elections[4]
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Career
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Buffaloe won the 2022 Columbia, Missouri mayoral election with 43 percent of the vote, and re-elected in the 2025 Columbia, Missouri mayoral election.[4] Before becoming Mayor she served as the city sustainability manager for eleven years.[5] She is the second female Mayor, and with her election women outnumber men on the city council for the first time in history.[6]
Buffaloe and former mayor Mary Anne McCollum shared the stage at the Missouri Theatre in the inaugural That's What She Said Columbia event held on April 15, 2023.[7] She is currently the chair of the Environment Committee of the United States Conference of Mayors.[8]
Mayor Buffaloe approved pay increases for the Columbia Police Department after first taking office.[9] She also named D'Markus Thomas-Brown as the city's first administrator of the Office of Violence Prevention in March 2025 in the hopes of decreasing crime rates in Columbia.[10]
In 2025, Buffaloe ran for re-election during the 2025 Columbia, Missouri mayoral election, wherein she faced two ballot-qualifying challengers and a write-in candidate. Buffaloe's challengers were paint store owner Blair "Murph" Murphy and Missouri School of Journalism professor Tanya Heath. She won re-election to a second term in the mayor's office with 55 percent of the vote, expanding her margin of victory from her first election.[9]
Following her reelection in 2025, in June of the same year, Mayor Buffaloe issued an official proclamation declaring the month of June as Pride Month in the city, done so at the annual Mid-Missouri Pride Fest.[11] That same month, Columbia became the first city in Missouri to recognize Self-Directed Supports for individuals with disabilities.[12] Under Buffaloe's leadership, the Columbia City Council undertook a series of meetings aimed at addressing a potential $48.2 million loss in federal funding to the city, resulting from various executive orders enacted during the second term of U.S. President Donald Trump .[13]
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Personal life
Originally from Springfield, Illinois, Buffaloe has resided in the Columbia, Missouri area for over two decades. She is married to MU Health Care physician Dr. Lucas "Luke" Buffaloe. Together, the couple have two children.[14] She is an active member of her local Rotary Club.[15]
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