From left, Andrew Butt and Cesar Zepeda are tied in the race for a seat on the Richmond's city council. (Photos courtesy of the candidates)
RICHMOND — Residents will have to wait to find out who will represent District 2 on the Richmond City Council, with a tie-breaker between the candidates not due to take place until after this weekend.
Nearly one month after the Nov 8. general election, Andrew Butt and Cesar Zepeda remain deadlocked in the race to represent the district, which stretches across a 32-mile area.
Butt had held a five-vote lead, but Zepeda closed the gap on Thursday. Both candidates received 1,921 votes.
Now, the results will be down to luck.
Richmond officials will “draw lots” to decide the winner sometime next week – after Contra Costa County certifies its election results.
Once the results have been certified, it is believed that both candidates will report to City Hall, where their names will be written on a piece of paper, sealed in an envelope and placed in a bag. Both candidates, who can take a witness to the event, will shake the bag and City Clerk Pamela Christian will draw an envelope and reveal the winner.
“It’s crazy. I kind of had a feeling this would happen,” Butt said in an interview earlier this week. “I can’t believe that it’s come down to this.”
The only other option the city had to decide the tie-breaker was to hold a special election, as per state law.
“Every election we sometimes hear people say oh my vote doesn’t matter, so they don’t show up to vote,” Zepeda said on Thursday. “But they have to understand when races are this close … you get to see the importance of every single vote.”
Originally published at Martha Brennan, Judith Prieve