A city council race was tied so this California city drew straws to decide who won

When it came down to deciding a tied race for a Galt City Council seat, the longest straw won.

Three people ran this year for two open seats on the City Council: Tim Reed won one of them with 5,870 votes, according to the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters. But Mathew Pratton and Bonnie Rodriguez tied with 3,882 votes each, meaning they had to put to a test a tiebreaker voters approved earlier this year.

Ahead of Tuesday’s regularly scheduled City Council meeting, Pratton and Rodriguez both drew straws. Rodriguez drew the short straw, making Pratton the winner.

“It’s pretty crazy for it to come down to this,” Pratton told KCRA-TV. “Each one, it got a little closer and got a little closer. So, it was pretty interesting.”

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Galt is a city south of Sacramento with a population of about 26,000. Galt City Clerk Tina Huber told CBS News that deciding the outcome of a tied race by drawing straws would be much cheaper than holding a special election at a cost of at least $100,000. The cost of a pack of straws: $3.

“Having a special election is extremely expensive, especially for a small city. Instead of pushing those funds on the city taxpayers, they voted to draw straws,” she added.

Rodriguez told the outlet that she and Pratton are friends.

“We have texted back and forth,” she added. “And at one point, he joked that in order to solve it, maybe we need to do a calf roping contest or something. It’s all in good fun.”