Cesar Zepeda elected to Richmond City Council after name drawn from bag

Richmond city clerk to pull name out of hat to decide next councilmember

The next Richmond city councilmember will be decided Tuesday morning, but not by an election. The race, which ended in a tie, will be determined by the city clerk who will pull one of the candidate's names out of a hat.

RICHMOND, Calif. - Cesar Zepeda won the District 2 Richmond city council race Tuesday morning, but not by an election.

The race, which ended in a tie, was chosen out of a giftbag by the city clerk.

Each of the two candidates, Andrew Butt and Zepeda, received exactly 1,921 votes in the Nov. 8 election. So under county rules, each candidate had to write their name on a piece of paper, put it in an envelope, then place it in a bag.

They each had a chance to shake the bag, followed by the announcement.

"The winner for District 2 is Cesar Zepeda," announced the city clerk Tuesday morning. "Congratulations."

Both candidates said the tiebreaker was a stranger experience.