Two of the three candidates who didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Homeyer and Williams won a combined 32% percent of the vote. So the endorsements, should they sway voters Mallory\u2019s way, are a boost to his campaign chances.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe two candidates really do care about St. Pete and helping move the city forward,\u201d Mallory said. \u201cIt shows that they strongly support my initiatives and my agenda for moving the city forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>. They are also both affiliated with Pinellas Democratic Socialists of America.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not really an affiliation thing for me,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI came up with my own way of comparing and contrasting each of them. It wasn\u2019t a decision I made lightly.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s affordable housing advisory committee.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cHe knows what he\u2019s doing. He knows what he\u2019s saying,\u201d Homeyer said. \u201cI hope everybody who supported me will now support him.\u201d<\/p>\n