By FITSNews || The polls predicted a tight race … and they didn’t lie.
The top three candidates in the City of Columbia’s hotly-contested 2010 mayoral race fought to within six points of each other on Tuesday, with Columbia attorney Steve Benjamin and City Councilman Kirkman Finlay edging past Columbia lawyer Steve Morrison to earn their spots in a runoff election to be held on April 20.
With 96 percent of precincts reporting, here are the unofficial totals:*
Benjamin – 6004 voters (35 percent)
Finlay – 5265 votes (32 percent)
Morrison – 4780 votes (29 percent)
In case you’re wondering how this works, a runoff election between the top two vote-getters is required in races in which no candidate receives a majority of the votes. That means Benjamin and Finlay will have to get their supporters back out to the polls in two weeks time while they also work to sway undecided voters.
We refrained from endorsing in this race, although we’re obviously not at all sad to see Morrison bounced from the contest given his history of unethical behavior. Morrison’s defeat was also particularly enjoyable seeing as he was the candidate endorsed by liberal La Socialista – a.k.a. The State newspaper.
*Results are considered unofficial until they are certified by the city’s Municipal Election Commission.
By PBR Man April 6, 2010 at 9:28 pm
uhhh, I think it’s Benjamin and Finlay that will have to get their voters back out.
By 11 o'clock spin April 7, 2010 at 12:16 am
That’s odd. WIS just had a reporter live at Benjamin campaign headquarters do a full story. They also had a guy at Morrison. Nothing from Finlay headquarters.
I guess we know who they’re backing in the runoff, but I bet they’ll still ask Finlay to buy ads from them.
By EM April 7, 2010 at 8:34 am
I was following the race via twitter and the only reports I could get were from a reporter from the The State Newspaper and a reporter from WIS. No one was tweeting from Finlay’s campaign headquarters that I was aware of and that is one of my prime news sources.
By fitsnews April 7, 2010 at 8:55 am
Gang-
WIS had reporters at Benjamin, Finlay and Morrison’s headquarters.
They had some serious technical issues on their 11 pm newscast, though, and eventually had to lead with Jordan Sandler’s coverage of the city council races because they couldn’t get any of their live feeds to work.
By the time they got to the live shots, everybody had left the “parties,” but they did eventually get reports from all three locations.
Having said all that, expect WIS and the rest of the local “MSM” to spend the next two weeks performing their very best journalistic fellatio on Benjamin.
-FITS
By Todd April 7, 2010 at 9:45 am
Though not particularly sophisticated in his choice of words, I agree with Sic that the MSM falling all over Benjamin is getting repulsive. The State’s endorsement of the ethically challenged Morrison was laughable and confirms its remaining editorial staff is still in awe of the alleged powerful comrades in downtown Columbia. Didn’t anyone notice Benjamin cozying up to EW in the secret meeting the week after EW’s fall? That act spoke volumes about Benjamin’s integrity…..
By Scooter April 7, 2010 at 11:10 am
BUMMER! Why do I keep wondering why I still live here?
By 803andy April 8, 2010 at 9:44 am
Only time will tell…..