When it came to deciding a tie race for a Galt City Council seat, the longest straw won.
Three people ran for two open City Council seats this year, and Tim Reed won one of them with 5,870 votes, according to the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters. But Matthew Platton and Bonnie Rodriguez tied with 3,882 votes each, forcing them to try the tiebreaker approved by voters earlier this year.
Ahead of the regular City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, both Platton and Rodriguez drew straws. Rodriguez drew the short straw and Platton was the winner.
“It’s pretty crazy that something like this would happen,” Platton told KCRA-TV. “Each one of them got a little closer and a little closer. So it was quite interesting.”
Galt is a city of about 26,000 people south of Sacramento. Galt City Clerk Tina Hoover told CBS News that a tie to decide the outcome of a close race would be much cheaper than holding a special election, which would cost at least $100,000. Price of 1 pack of straws: $3.
“Holding a special election is very expensive, especially for a small city. Rather than pass these funds on to city taxpayers, city taxpayers voted to draw straws,” she said. added.
Rodriguez told the magazine that she and Platton are friends.
“We texted back and forth,” she added. “And at one point he joked that to solve it, we might have to have a calf rope contest or something. It’s all in fun.”
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