New Mexico Election Decided By Hand of Poker

What do you do when you tally up all the votes and there's a tie, well in New Mexico you break out a deck of cards. 

Josie Richards and Michelle Dunlap were both running for the office of Estancia Town Trustee but when it was a tie the only way to decide who would be the winner was a game of chance.

The two ended up playing a hand of 5 card stud poker and Richards drew a pair of nines and got the job.  Josie Richards said, "I was very nervous, I'm a big competitor and I wanted this position".

This wasn't the first time that an election had been decided with a deck of cards in New Mexico.  It is a law that in the event of a tie in an election the winner will be chosen by a game of chance.

In 2006 Edgewood's mayor was chosen by card draw and other elections have been settled by the toss of a coin.  Richards sister JoAnn Carlson ran for Mayor of Estancia several years ago and it was also a tie vote that god decided by a round of poker but she lost the hand to James Farrington.