Nevada is a state that puts its money where its mouth is. They’re a state founded on gambling, and their main economic draw is gambling, so it’s only fitting that, under Nevada state law, when two candidates tie for an election, the state settles things by the drawing of lots. Specifically, you can cut a deck of cards, draw straws, flipping a coin, or throwing dice. It was the flip of a card that decided the Nye County Commissioner primary race between Andrew “Butch” Borasky and Carl Moore Sr. in remote Pahrump, Nevada. Butch Borasky won, which is something he couldn’t say after the three primary votes in which the two men tied with 381 votes a piece.
“We decided on high card,” Borasky told The Associated Press in a telephone interview after his win via the Queen of Clubs. Moore drew the 10 of Clubs. “There was no disagreement between us. We shook hands before and after.”
Borasky, the current Nye County Commissioner who barely survived a recall vote last year, goes on to face libertarian candidate Sandra Darby in the November election.
Tags: Pahrump, Nevada, three tied elections, primary elections, county commissioner, Nye County, Andrew “Butch” Borasky, Carl Moore Sr., unusual tiebreakers, unusual state laws