Politics

City council candidate would have won race — but his wife didn’t vote

Taylor Bigler Entertainment Editor
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The old maxim “every vote counts” is generally completely untrue, but it certainly was the case in one small-town Kentucky race.

Robert McDonald ran for Walton City Council against Olivia Ballou, who tied 669 votes to 669 votes after the polls closed Tuesday night, Cincinnati.com reports.
This dead heat could have been avoided had McDonald’s wife, Katie, cast her vote.

“If she had just been able to get in to vote, we wouldn’t be going through any of this,” McDonald said. “You never think it will come down to one vote, but I’m here to tell you that it does.”

The candidate said his wife did not want to talk to the media.

“She feels bad enough,” McDonald continued. “She worked extra hours, goes to school and we have three kids, so I don’t blame her. She woke up about ten minutes before the polls closed and asked if she should run up, but I told her I didn’t think one vote would matter.”

Now, the city council election will likely be decided by a coin toss once government officials have confirmation from the State Board of Elections that this is how the winner will be determined.

Let’s hope that McDonald doesn’t throw the whole “you cost me the election” thing in his wife’s face the next time she asks him to take out the trash or pick his damned socks off the floor.

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