John Popham was elected to his eleventh term on the Demorest City Council during the special election held January 5, 2016.
After two elections and a few heated exchanges between officials in between, incumbent Demorest City Councilman John Popham has won re-election to his at-large council seat.
Unofficial results from Tuesday’s election show Popham defeated fellow incumbent councilman Donnie Bennett by 36 votes — 105 to 69. Both men were vying for one at-large seat. Bennett won the seat in November by one vote but the results of that election were thrown out by the courts due to an election error in which one voter was mistakenly allowed to vote twice.
Popham and Demorest Mayor Rick Austin both petitioned the court for a re-vote. At the time, Austin said he wanted the voters of Demorest to be able to have confidence in the outcome. He says Tuesday’s election accomplished that.
“I am very grateful to the citizens of Demorest for their patience as we worked for an election result outcome that could be trusted,” says Austin. “I am also grateful to both councilmen Popham and Bennett for their service to the city. I look forward to working with the council to move the city forward in a meaningful way in the year ahead.”
When contacted Tuesday after the election, Popham said, “Well, I’m glad I won. I wasn’t going to run again, but I had ten or fifteen people who talked me into it.”
Popham says he’s been a council member “for forty years” and when he’s sworn into office in the Demorest City Council meeting on Tuesday, January 12, it will be for his eleventh term of office.
Voter turnout in Demorest Tuesday was 29%, with 174 of the city’s 601 registered voters casting ballots.
Considering it was their second trip to the polls in two months, Austin says he’s pleased with the turnout.
“I’m very thankful for the voters who came back to the polls to let their voice be heard,” he says. “It’s an outcome that the voters can trust and that we as a City can trust. That’s the reason for pursuing a re-vote in the first place, to restore voter confidence in the system. I do think voter confidence has been restored in the City of Demorest.”
The results of Tuesday’s election are unofficial until they’re verified by the Secretary of State.
(Popham photo: cityofdemorest.org)
