Cook County candidates must draw Scrabble tiles to settle tie

UPDATE: Frank Moe was declared the winner in the drawing today, the account of which is here.

The two candidates for District 1 Cook County Commissioner in far Northeastern Minnesota ended up tied after ballots from Tuesday’s election were counted. Now they will participate in a drawing to determine which will take office, unless a recount shows a different result.

Frank Moe

Kristin Wharton

What’s more interesting, perhaps, is that the race was fairly high profile, as contests for Cook County Commissioner go. Featuring former State Rep. and outspoken environmental advocate and dog sled racer Frank Moe and local resident Kristin Wharton, the election garnered some interest before Tuesday’s vote.

Nevertheless, the race ended in a tie. Now Moe and Wharton will draw Scrabble tiles from a bag on Monday morning. The person who draws the “Z” will be the winner, while the person who draws the “A” will be authorized to request a recount. A race with this few votes is unlikely to include errors, so unless a change in the total occurs, the “Z” holder is the next county commissioner for the northernmost portion of the county found at the very tip of Northern Minnesota’s Arrowhead.