Lots drawn to decide alderman race in Walls

Tammy Patrick became an alderman in the town of Walls Thursday by the luck of the draw.

Well, to be exact, from a piece of paper drawn from a wicker basket.

Patrick, a political newcomer in DeSoto County’s smallest municipality, received 18 votes in Tuesday’s general election and so did incumbent Jimmy Doyle. The two were among six candidates vying for five seats on the Board of Aldermen.

Mississippi Code 23-15611 says that in the event of a tie, the election has to be decided “by lot, fairly and publicly drawn by the election commissioners with the aid of two or more qualified electors of the municipality.”

At 3 p.m. Thursday, the town’s three election commissioners along with the candidates and a few curious residents, gathered for the town’s first election tiebreaker.

It only took deputy court clerk Amie Carr about five minutes to pluck Patrick’s name from a basket that is usually used for the town’s mail.

“I ran for office to see what was going on in Walls and to try and make it better,” said Patrick, who has lived in the town for nine years. “I’m excited about being an alderman, and will work hard.”

Doyle, who was appointed to the board nearly two years ago when another alderman stepped down from the job, said he was not upset over losing his re-election bid.

“It’s the state law,” said Doyle, who has lived in Walls for 13 years, about the tie- break process. “Even though I didn’t win, there’s still a Doyle on the board.”

His wife, Jenny Doyle, received 20 votes to claim a seat on the five-member board. She is joined by Tammy Patrick, Beverly Thomas and Vicky Waddey. Incumbent Ray Denison, the husband of the town’s new mayor, Patti Denison, was also re-elected and rounds out the town’s new board for the next four years.

Pamela Weaver, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, said the tied election in Walls was the second in the state during Tuesday’s general elections. She said the town of Mendenhall, Miss., a small town near Jackson, also had a tied alderman race.

And Mississippi is not alone in resolving tied elections in unusual ways.

Coin tosses have broken ties in New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri, Washington, Florida, Minnesota and New Hampshire in recent years, according to a 2012 article in The Atlantic magazine. South Dakota and Arizona have used card games. In Virginia, the winner has been chosen from a hat.

Cone Park in Germantown is the perfect place for a nice game of tic-tac-toe, as Tay Hyde, 10, takes up a challenge from her mom, Elaine Hyde, on Thursday at the park playground.

STAN CARROLL/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL Challenger Tammy Patrick (left) and incumbent Jimmy Doyle watch Thursday as Walls deputy court clerk Amie Carr draws one of their names from a basket to decide their race for alderman that ended in a tie vote after Tuesday’s general election.

Amie Carr displays the winner of the drawing, required by state law in the event of a tie vote, for a post as alderman in Walls.