Hundreds of people in Portland, Maine, were on hand to watch an unprecedented event unfold in local election history: The winner of an open city council seat was chosen by chance, by drawing a name out of a wooden bowl.
So on Thursday morning, City Clerk Katherine Jones brought an antique wooden bowl from home as people gathered on the plaza outside Portland's City Hall for the public drawing to determine the winner.
He then held the bowl above Jones' eye line so she could pull out a card. After displaying it to the candidates, she announced the winner into a microphone -- Brandon Mazer. Cheers erupted from the crowd, and the two candidates shook hands and embraced. "After such a grueling campaign season, to have it come down to chance was a little bit of a shock," Rodriguez, a member of the Portland School Board, told WMTW."But, again, you know, this is what the policy says. This is what we're governed by, and so here we are today.
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