Two of the three candidates who didn’t make the runoff in the District 6 race to represent downtown and neighborhoods to the southeast on the St. Petersburg City Council are getting behind the second-place candidate.

Trevor Mallory on Tuesday announced the endorsements of Doug Homeyer and Jameka Williams. Homeyer and Williams finished a close fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Aug. 18 primary election among voters in that district.

Homeyer and Williams won a combined 32% percent of the vote. So the endorsements, should they sway voters Mallory’s way, are a boost to his campaign chances.

“The two candidates really do care about St. Pete and helping move the city forward,” Mallory said. “It shows that they strongly support my initiatives and my agenda for moving the city forward.”

Mallory and frontrunner Linsey Grove emerged as the top two candidates with the most votes in a five-way race. District 6 stretches from downtown and Historic Uptown to Thirteenth Street Heights and south to Coquina Key. Current council member Gina Driscoll is leaving office due to term limits.

Mallory, who runs a nonprofit focused on affordable housing and homeownership, won just under 23%. Grove, a public health practitioner who runs an organization serving nonprofits, leads with slightly over 28%. All St. Petersburg voters will choose a winner between them in the Nov. 3 general election.

Williams, a marketing professional and community activist, said she had nearly two-hour conversations with both Mallory and Grove. She and Grove were certified candidates by the Dump Duke movement in favor of setting up a city-run electric utility. They are also both affiliated with Pinellas Democratic Socialists of America.

“It’s not really an affiliation thing for me,” Williams said. “I came up with my own way of comparing and contrasting each of them. It wasn’t a decision I made lightly.”

She said Mallory got the edge because he works on affordable housing. Mallory is the president of Neighborhood Home Solutions, a nonprofit that educates and assists homebuyers and homeowners. He also served on the city’s affordable housing advisory committee.

Homeyer, a life insurance planner active in business circles, said he connected with Mallory over playing sports. He said Mallory taught him things on the campaign trail and knows a lot of people.

“He knows what he’s doing. He knows what he’s saying,” Homeyer said. “I hope everybody who supported me will now support him.”

Terri Balliet, CEO of the Children’s Network of Hillsborough, finished in third place with just under 17% despite endorsements from former Mayor Rick Kriseman and outgoing state Sen. Darryl Rouson.

Balliet was also the chairperson of a now-closed political committee, A Vision Without Division. She raised about $15,000 from donors who include developer Mack Feldman, Red Apple CEO John Catsimatidis, former Juvenile Welfare Board CEO and Moffitt Cancer Center Hospital board chairperson Beth Houghton, Blake Investment Partners partner Cole Sones and businessman Bill Edwards, who recently died. Records show $1,000 of that went to her campaign coffers.

It is not clear if Balliet has or will make an endorsement. She did not return a call and text message seeking comment.

Mallory has raised about $2,000 more than Grove in individual campaign contributions, though Grove has about $14,000 more cash on hand.

Mallory and Grove have canvassed alongside the campaign of Angie Nixon, Florida’s Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. Though city races are nonpartisan, both candidates are Democrats.

“I think people really resonate with the campaign,” Grove said. “I feel very, very proud of the campaign and I’m just excited.”

City voters also have a runoff in the mayor’s race between incumbent Mayor Ken Welch and former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. There’s also a showdown between two candidates running for the District 2 council seat representing Riviera Bay, Barcley Estates and Gandy: Courtney Bermudez and Gabriel Hament.