Minnesota policymakers settled on an unorthodox tiebreaker in its deadlocked mayoral race: drawing a name from a bag.
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Incumbent mayor Robert Nelson and challenger Halyn Roth each received 1,201 votes in the November election, prompting the state law to draw lots to declare a winner.
The tiebreaker method may sound juvenile, but it is far more common than you think.
28 states, including California, Texas and Florida, draw lots to break elections that end in ties, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Idaho is the lone state that settles tiebreakers via coin toss, per the NCSL.
For Spring Lake Park, a suburb of Minneapolis, the mayoral race all came down to a draw.
Spring Lake Park officials gathered for a meeting on Nov. 9, in which they pulled a name out of a blue bag to decide its next mayor.
Images obtained by Dexerto show a blonde woman in a denim vest and wearing sunglasses pulling the lucky winner from a large blue bag.
Nelson, who has been mayor of the Minneapolis suburb since 2019, won the drawing.
Mayoral Candidates Show Mixed Emotions About Election Tiebreaker
Roth spoke with Minnesota Public Radio after the loss and urged voters to push for change on the tiebreaker method.
"I know there's a lot of folks who are frustrated by this process, and all I can say is if you want it to change, call your state legislators and ask them to change it," Roth told MPR.
Even in victory, Nelson questioned whether drawing lots is an outdated method to determine such an important outcome.
"Just seems like it's something from the 1800s. Now we're in 2026, so I just feel there's room for improvement, but I have not a clue which way that'd go," Nelson told reporters. "I just take care of 7,000 people, not 5 million or whatever's in the state."
The next appointed mayor is still up in the air in Spring Lake Park, as Roth's request for a recount was granted. The recount will be held Nov. 17 at 9 AM at the Anoka County Courthouse and is open to the public.
Spring Lake Park is a small town of about 7,100 residents and is roughly a 20-minute drive from Minneapolis.
