But if neighborhood ties mean anything, Howard might have an advantage.

As The State’s Noelle Phillips pointed out in her Saturday story, District 2 candidates Emma Myers and Alex Furgess live across the street from each other and are engaged in what could be described as a polite feud.

Another thing Phillips pointed out is that  Howard, the second-place finisher in Tuesday’s election, lives in the Jones McDonald Neighborhood — the same neighborhood as Myers and Furgess.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that the people who supported for Myers and Furgess would support Howard. After all, he lives in their neighborhood.

Ward 7

Together, Furgess and Emma Myers got 319 votes, or 21 percent of the vote total. That’s two more votes than Howard got. Furgess’ best showing was in Ward 7, where she received 43 of  195 votes cast. Howard got 105 of the 195 votes cast in Ward 7, whereas Brian Newman, the front-runner, received only 19 votes.

But you know what they say about “assume.”

In the mayoral runoff  election, everyone worried about Shandon, which was where third-place finisher Steve Morrison had the strongest support. Kirkman Finlay spent a lot of time there, and he won those precincts on election day. But Benjamin spent all of his time in north and east Columbia, which had an overwhelming turnout and negated all of Finlay’s gains in Shandon.

Benjamin had tons of money and an impressive campaign organization that made that happen. Newman also has tons of money (compared to Howard), and many of the people who got Benjamin elected now work for Newman, including:

• Josepher Oppermann (Benjamin’s field director)
• Kendall Corely (Benjamin’s political director)
• Michael Wukela (Benjamin’s communications director)

Benjamin’s top 10 precincts, which he won by a combined 3,033 votes, had a 27 percent increase in the number of people who voted compared to April 6. Finlay’s top 10 precincts, which he won by a combined 2,625 votes, had an 8 percent increase in the number of people who voted compared to April 6.

Check it:

Steve Benjamin

Kirkman Finlay

NOTE: That’s not a typo with Ward 8. That’s on the campus of Benedict College. On April 6, Ward 8 had 217 vote. Yesterday, they had 439.

NOTE: I compiled these numbers from Tuesday’s election results. Some precincts are split between districts. In that instance, the precinct with the most registered voters in a certain district counted toward that district.

DISTRICT 1

• Steve Benjamin: 2,019
• Steve Morrison: 608
• Kirkman Finlay: 519

DISTRICT 2

• Steve Benjamin: 1,567
• Steve Morrison: 363
• Kirkman Finlay: 345

DISTRICT 3

• Steve Morrison: 1,780
• Kirkman Finlay: 1,446
• Steve Benjamin: 924

DISTRICT 4

• Kirkman Finlay: 1,207
• Steve Morrison: 765
• Steve Benjamin: 530

Take a look at the candidates’ schedules:

Benjamin

• Friday evening: Door knocking in Shandon
• All day Saturday: Door knocking in Shandon

Finlay

• Door knocking in Shandon
• 9 a.m. to noon Saturday: Walking Shandon and Rosewood neighborhoods. Volunteers meet at Finlay’s house and then gather for lunch Pawley’s Front Porch in Five Points.

Why is Shandon so important? It’s where third-place finisher Steve Morrison got the most support. Take a look at Wards 12, 13 and 14, which were spotlighted in the Sunday story:

Ward 12:

• Morrison 222
• Finlay: 181
• Benjamin: 65

Ward 13:

• Morrison: 273
• Finlay: 220
• Benjamin: 63

Ward 14:

• Morrison: 275
• Finlay: 193
• Benjamin:94

Steve Morrison closed his concession speech by telling the crowd that he wanted to “give each of you a huge, big hug.” So, his supporters lined up, and Morrison, a former college basketball player, hugged each person. Most folks thanked Morrison for running or spoke of their disappointment. But there were few good one-liners for Morrison, a managing partner at Nelson Mullins, the state’s largest law firm.

Here are the two best comments overheard on the porch of the Seibels House and Gardens:

1. “People get in line and pay big bucks for you to worry about their problems. The City of Columbia won’t elect you to work for them.” (Note: Morrison earns $500 for his services as a litigator.)

2. “Move to District 2. You can jump in that race and run again in a few weeks.”

Pre-election campaign reports for mayor were due Monday. So far two of the three fundraising leaders for mayor have turned in reports to the South Carolina State Ethics Commission.

Steve Morrison reported contributions of $107,958.  But Morrison got started late, so he has only raised a total of $141,443. Because of that, he has given himself two $40,000 loans.

Morrison has $33,786.09 left to spend before April 6.

Kirkman Finlay raised $97,202.31 since January 1. He has $37,352.72 left to spend before April 6.

Steve Benjamin, who has made so much noise about “transparency and accountability,” has not filed his report yet. While the report was due Monday, he has until Saturday to file without a penalty. A spokesman for his campaign said Benjamin would file his report by midnight Saturday.

Of the remaining candidates, Aaron Johnson is the leader (so far) from a money standpoint. He picked up $1,471 from more than 140 contributors. Johnson has $628.94 let to spend before April 6.

Two unusual parts of this debate: the candidates had to introduce each other, and the candidates got to ask each other questions.

Here are some introductions:
Kirkman Finlay introducing Steve Morrison

Steve Benjamin introducing Kirkman Finlay

Here are some of the candidates questions to each other:

Steve Benjamin questions Kirkman Finlay

Kirkman Finlay questions Steve Benjamin

Steve Morrison questions Steve Benjamin

Joseph Azar

Steve Benjamin*

Kirkman Finlay

Aaron Johnson

Steve Morrison

*In this clip, Benjamin says the city must “strongly consider” supporting the Main Street homeless center. Earlier in the night, he said the city must support the center and not doing so would be a “dereliction of duty.”

I’ve been trying to reach Denman, a retired banker, for a few days. But he’s been sick — so sick that he even missed the court hearing on his case yesterday.

Denman took issue with state Sen. Todd Rutherford’s comments in today’s newspaper. To refresh your memory, here they are:

“This is about Steve Morrison, who showed up and said the people in District 2 do not know enough to decide who they want to represent them on April 6. It is a majority-black district, and somebody who does not live in the district is telling the community leaders who are here from their district that they don’t know any better. And (Morrison) found one of his supporters who happens to live in District 2, and he used him as a straw man to come up here and do all of this.”

Denman said that, so far, he has voted for Rutherford twice. Not anymore.

“There will be a blizzard in hell before I vote for him again,” Denman said.

Denman also said he does not support Steve Morrison for mayor. Denman was photographed at a mayoral debate March 9 wearing a “Morrison for Columbia” campaign sticker. Denman said he wore that because his wife, Jean, asked him to.

Denman said he’s voting for Aaron Johnson.

Why? Because this forum will have a magician. And Aaron Johnson’s campaign manager will be drawing caricatures of people, carnival style.

Johnson is protesting the official forum, which will be happening inside the law school. Organizers invited four of the eight candidates: Joe Azar, Steve Benjamin, Kirkman Finlay and Steve Morrison.

And what’s a scorned candidate to do after his protest forum? From Johnson’s Facebook page:

After the forum we will proceed to Hunter Gatherer where we will celebrate our freedoms! Then Pint Night at the Whig, then heck… Why not Karaoke at Art Bar?