A coin flip could decide this Arizona council race after two candidates tie at 67 votes

A coin flip or a cut of the cards could decide who wins a Gila Bend Town Council seat after two candidates tied in Arizona’s July 21 primary.

Candidates Athena Guerrero and Jesus Rubalcava each received exactly 67 votes for the fourth and final seat on the five-member council. Three other candidates won their seats outright.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors certified the results Monday.

Scott Jarrett, the county’s elections director, told the board a recount could begin as early as Tuesday and should wrap up this week.

Coin flip, card draw or name from a bowl

Arizona law says tied local elections may be determined by chance, a tiebreaking method the statute calls “drawing by lot.”

That could mean a coin flip, drawing names from a bowl or cutting a deck of cards.

The Gila Bend town clerk will decide the method and must give both candidates five days’ notice of the time and place, although no method has been picked yet, interim town clerk Patricia Riggs said.

“It’ll be up to the town clerk to decide exactly how they’re doing the draw by lot,” Jarrett told the board.

It happened before. The king of hearts won.

Arizona has a history of settling elections this way.

In 2009, a Cave Creek Town Council race that ended in a tie was decided when the town magistrate, dressed in black robes, shuffled a deck of cards in front of about 60 people packed into the council chambers.

Incumbent Thomas McGuire drew the six of hearts. Challenger Adam Trenk pulled the king of hearts and won the seat.

“It’s a little disheartening that seven months of hard work would be decided by a game of chance,” Trenk told KJZZ at the time. “But I understand that that’s the law of the state.”

The Gila Bend Town Council canvassed its own results on July 30 and filed court paperwork to initiate the recount Monday.

In a statement, the town said if a drawing is necessary, it would likely take place in mid-August.

Supervisor Steve Gallardo, who represents the West Valley district that includes Gila Bend, said his phone had already been ringing with questions from residents about the process.

Across Maricopa County, the primary drew 677,387 voters, a turnout of 26.7%.

State certification of the full results is scheduled for Thursday.

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