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Former President Donald Trump has won an election. And, as is fitting for someone who made a name developing Atlantic City casinos, it came down to the roll of the dice.
But it wasn’t a race he ever filed for and he likely won’t be taking office anytime soon.
Trump beat out four other candidates to win a seat on the board of the tiny Hubbard Rural Fire Protection District in western Oregon.
Trump and four other people were tied for the position with write-in votes following the May 16 election. They each had two votes.
The tiebreaker was a roll of the dice.
“The candidate who won the dice roll off was Donald Trump and because he doesn’t live or own property in the district, the next step would be to determine if either of the other two candidates who won the dice roll are interested,” Hubbard Fire Chief Michael Kahrmann said.
Trump, who was president from 2016 to 2020, is running for president in the 2024 election. His campaign didn’t immediately respond to an email asking if he was interested in the position in Hubbard.
The fire district covers seven square miles between Woodburn and Aurora and serves about 5,000 residents about 30 miles southwest of Portland. According to the district, it has six paid staff members – two of whom are seasonal through a state grant – and 26 volunteers.
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Low turnout for candidates, voters
Like a lot of off-year elections, participation wasn’t great in this spring’s election, either by voters or prospective candidates.
There were three positions up for election for the five-person board. Incumbents Michelle Luna and Michael Willis were the only people to register to run. They both easily won another four-year term in their positions.
Like most special district positions, they don’t get paid.
“It’s a rare thing for Hubbard to not have someone run in the position,” said Kahrmann, who has been with the district since 2006.
But there are times when it can be difficult to attract any candidates. Just as it can be difficult to attract volunteer firefighters.
Since no one filed to run for the third position, the race came down to write-in candidates.
Of the 20 people who received write-in votes in the race, five received two votes, including Trump.
Because the vote was so close, it triggered an automatic recount. That confirmed the five-way tie.
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A roll of the dice
Marion County Clerk Bill Burgess said that in the case of ties in elections needing to be broken, it must be done by a game of chance.
Thus, the dice roll.
“We ran this by both our Secretary of State’s Office and our in-house attorney,” Burgess said. “It’s been a while since we had to do this.”
So at 9 a.m. June 23, the County Clerk’s Office performed the dice roll.
None of the write-in candidates attended so others served as stand-ins, each rolling a 12-sided dice. On the first roll, the stand-ins for three candidates including Trump each rolled 10. In the second round, Trump’s stand-in rolled a 12.
Trump was the winner.
The Marion County Clerk’s Office said it determined that another candidate and Trump were not registered to vote in the county and it couldn’t find contact information for them.
“It just shows the persnicketiness that we go through when people are doing write-ins,” Burgess said.
He said it is up to the fire district to determine whether Trump is eligible to hold office.
The candidate must own property or live in the district.
“I’m not sure how the fire district is going to determine if Donald Trump or a Donald Trump owns property,” Burgess said. “The likelihood is probably not great since we don’t even have a Donald Trump registered in the county.”
Trump’s listed residence is currently Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Kahrmann said the candidates who also had 10s in the first round of voting will be asked if they are interested in the position. If none are, a vacancy will be declared and the fire board will have to appoint someone.
He said the board will determine what to do next with the position at its July 12 meeting.
Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com