In a Small California Town, an Election Tie Is Broken by Drawing Straws

We know by now that America is a land of deep political division and heated red-on-blue, blue-on-red, red-on-red and blue-on-blue rancor.

Or so it seems.

What happened when two Republican candidates in an obscure California race deadlocked — 3,882 votes to 3,882 votes — tells us that there are still corners of the country where civility thrives. Civility and drinking straws.

The story takes place in Galt, a bedroom community of about 26,000 people south of Sacramento. It’s a small city that many residents hope stays that way, a place where the growth chased by some of its neighbors has largely been rejected, a proposed casino met resistance and the biggest local controversy revolves around whether a new gas station should come to town.

It’s also a place where three people were running for two slots on the five-person City Council. Tim Reed easily secured one of them with more than 5,800 votes. But when Mathew Pratton and Bonnie Rodriguez tied for the other seat, the city was in a bit of a pickle.

Tied elections in America are nothing new. Over the years, they have been settled by coin flips, drawing names out of a bowl and even a quick game of poker. But in our Trumpian era of institutional and electoral distrust, quirky tiebreakers seem like a throwback to a time when “stop the steal” might have referred to a police crackdown on convenience-store crime.

Pratton, 62, is a longtime Galt resident who once had bicycle shops and a photo studio in town, and who spent 15 years coaching the local junior-varsity football team. Rodriguez, 52, is the former publisher of The Galt Herald, the town’s newspaper. After 20 years of attending civic meetings, she decided to try her hand at making local decisions instead of covering them. They are Republicans — although the seat is nonpartisan — and they are friends.