Polygamous town elects first mayor who’s not part of sect
SALT LAKE CITY — A polygamous group’s dwindling control of a remote Utah-Arizona border town that it has called home for a century slipped further after four people not tied to the sect took over the mayor’s office and other leadership posts.
Donia Jessop, who left the sect several years ago over discord with leaders, has become the first female mayor of Hildale, Utah, and the first person to hold the post who isn’t a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Three city council seats also went to non-members.
The group is an offshoot of mainstream Mormonism, which disavowed polygamy more than 100 years ago.
The competitive elections were another sign of the major changes the community has undergone in recent years. In the past, the sect picked mayors and council members behind the scenes who would run unopposed.