Oregon Election Comes Down to a Roll of the Dice — Literally

Dan Mason rolled a six.

And that's what it took to end up with the nomination of the Independent Party of Oregon in the race for House District 30.

When all the votes were counted after the May 17th Primary, Mason, who is also the Republican nominee, ended up with 41 votes. And Janeen Sollman, who is also the Democratic nominee, had 41 votes as well. Oregon law allows candidates to seek the nomination of more than one party.

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The Independent Party of Oregon - sensing it would be a close race to replace Jim Gallegos who chose not to seek reelection - chose not to run a candidate. It's unlikely they knew just how close it would be.

So, with a nomination up for grabs, both Sollman and Mason threw their hats in, trying to increase their support. As per the law, there was an automatic recount, which happened on Wednesday.

Still a tie.

So, a Washington County election official asked representatives to draw cards, thinking that's what the law said. Sollman won after her person drew the higher card. But then, election officials realized that since it was state office, the Secretary of State is supposed to preside.

Which led to Friday's roll of the dice.

While Mason rolled a six, Sollman rolled a three.

While this is believed to have been the first state office tie-breaker in at least 25 years, in 2004 there was a tie- breaker in the race for mayor of Prairie City in eastern Oregon. That race came down to a coin toss, although they drew straws to figure out who was heads and who was tails.

Meanwhile, Mason and Stallman will face off again in November.

It should be a close race.