PAROWAN — With the general election results having been finalized, Iron County’s closest municipal race now has an official winner. One of the Parowan City Council races was decided by a margin of just two votes.
According to the final vote count issued on Nov. 10 by the Iron County Clerk’s Office, Rochell Topham was the top vote-getter in the four-person race for two open seats on the council. Topham received 589 votes, or 28.2% of the votes cast in that race.
Coming in second place was Sharon Downey, whose 520 votes narrowly edged the 518 votes received by David M. Harris. The respective percentages were 24.9% and 24.8%.
Incumbent councilmember James M. Harris finished in fourth place with 459 votes, or 22.0%.
The Parowan City Council subsequently ratified the official canvass, which had been finalized after a recount of the ballots.
Parowan’s voter turnout for the 2021 municipal election ended up being 64.4%, the highest of any city or town in Iron County. A total of 1,183 ballots were cast out of a total of 1,837 registered voters in Parowan.
Newly elected council members Topham and Downey are scheduled to be sworn into office in January, along with newly elected mayor Mollie Halterman, whose write-in campaign garnered more votes than incumbent Mayor Preston Griffiths and challenger Vickie L. Hicks combined.
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