Nevada Election Decided by Card Game

A deadlocked city council race in North Las Vegas was decided Thursday by a game of high card. Yahoo reports that Melinda Meisenheimer and Tanya Flanagan were tied for second place and neither had requested a recount to decide who would advance to June's general election. In accord with a 1965 state law, the matter was decided by who could pick the highest playing card from a deck. Only in Nevada! (And Arizona, the same exact thing happened in Arizona two years ago).

Here's how the decisive game went down:

William Robinson, the city's mayor pro tem, broke the seal on the deck and removed the joker cards. David Hernandez, who teaches casino management at a local college, shuffled the cards. Gerald Schaffer, a former Clark County official with no ties to the city, cut the deck. And Hernandez fanned the cards out, so candidates could choose their own card.

Flanagan picked a five of diamonds and Meisenheimer followed her up with a king of the same suit, sealing the victory.

Win or lose, both candidates proved something very important: Everyone in Nevada is suffering from a crippling gambling addiction

Nevada election decided by luck of the draw [Yahoo!]

[ngreene@villagevoice.com / @nickgreene]