Eighty votes separated them in the primary. In November, Derrick Parrott and Tim Choate will compete for the right to lead Mayfield—a city still rebuilding four years after a tornado tore through its downtown on December 10, 2021.
Parrott, a city councilman in his fourth term and a school-community liaison for Mayfield Independent Schools, led the May primary with 623 votes, roughly 40% of the 1,539 cast. Choate, a civil engineer with 15 years on the city planning commission and 12 on the Water and Electric Board, finished second with 543 votes. Incumbent Mayor Kathy O'Nan, who led the initial recovery effort, received 373 votes—and is out of the race.
Both men present themselves as agents of a faster, more aggressive recovery. But their emphases differ. Parrott, who grew up in Mayfield and has spent his career in civic institutions, stresses community-building alongside economic development. "Mayfield wants change," he said. "They want action and movement." His first 90 days would begin with surveys—listening to residents before dictating a direction.
Choate is less interested in listening and more in building. He envisions a youth center as the anchor for downtown revitalization, arguing that amenities draw businesses and restaurants rather than the other way around. He wants to leverage post-tornado state and federal recovery funding through public-private partnerships, and his 90-day plan targets budget inefficiencies as the first step toward fiscal room for investment. "I want Mayfield to be a destination, not just a place to live," he said.
The two candidates share the same broad goals: higher-paying jobs, a revived downtown, and a city that younger residents do not feel compelled to leave. They disagree on the sequence and on who is better equipped to get there. Parrott leans on his institutional knowledge and community ties; Choate on technical expertise and a record of long service on the bodies that actually shaped the city's infrastructure.
O'Nan's defeat signals that voters want a new face leading the next phase of recovery. Which face they choose may depend on whether they think Mayfield's wounds are primarily social or structural.