A close council race in Galt has been decided by the length of a straw.
Two candidates vying for one of the open seats on the Galt City Council ended up tied in the Nov. 5 election with 3,882 votes each. City law calls for ties to be broken by drawing straws. So last Tuesday, Police Chief Brian Kalinowski held out three green straws for the candidates to choose from. Mathew Pratton drew the longer one, allowing him to emerge victorious over Bonnie Rodriguez.
There were no hard feelings. Rodriguez calls Pratton a friend, and says she believes he will serve the community well.
Electoral games of chance always make for interesting election outcomes, but they’re more common than you might think. In 2022, a Richmond City Council race was decided by drawing a name out of hat. That same year, a coin toss was used to declare a winner in the Butler, Kentucky mayoral race. Back in 1996, a City Council race in Kingsburg, California also came down to a game of heads or tails.