The Pink Party was established in 2008 to raise support for GLBT friendly and supportive public officials and candidates. The first party was for Columbia Mayor Bob Coble to assist in paying down his campaign debt. Mayor Bob said it was the best political fund-raiser he had ever been to. The second party was for Columbia City Council candidates Belinda Gergel and Cameron Runyan. Belinda went on to win a seat on City Council, and Cameron waged a surprisingly challenging campaign against an incumbent.
Since those early successes, numerous candidates have requested Pink Parties, creating a need to have a structure and an evaluation process. Although the Pink Party does not have any direct affiliation with existing GLBT organizations, it does have a Steering Committee with representatives from the GLBT community. The Steering Committee convened an Interview Committee to develop questions and to meet with the current candidates for mayor of Columbia.