VIRGIN – A vote recount for a contested Virgin Town Council seat produced an unexpected result Monday: a tie. In order to break the tie, the candidates, challenger Daniel Snyder and incumbent Danyale Blackmore, chose to put their fates in the outcome of a coin toss.
“The mayor flipped the coin after Danyale Blackmore chose heads,” Virgin Town Clerk Monica Bowcutt said. “It was tails, so Daniel Snyder is the winner.”
The Virgin Town Council would have originally certified the election results Nov. 10, but a recount was called when Snyder received 129 votes to Blackmore’s 128.
Snyder lost a vote in the recount, while Matthew Spendlove, who had won one of the two open council seats with 139 votes, gained a vote, bringing him to 140 overall.
“It’s unreal,” Bowcutt said.
According to the Lt. Governor’s Office, the winner of a tied vote following a recount can be decided by lot. In this case, the candidates chose to go with the flip of a coin.
Snyder and Spendlove will both serve 4-year terms on the council and be sworn in Jan. 4, 2016.
As a member of the council, Snyder said he would like to see Virgin integrate some small businesses that serve the needs of the community and the tourist population while maintaining its small-town atmosphere.
A coffee shop, a restaurant, a small convenience store, as well as other tourist-based businesses intended for the highway resort zone, would be a good fit for the town, Snyder said. The town simply must decide where it makes most sense to put such businesses, he said.
Spendlove said his main goal is to make Virgin united — make the town a better town.
“We’ve been divided for quite some time,” he said.
There will always be people who don’t want businesses and some who do, he said. He is in favor of responsible businesses that are good for the town, including the Zion Sunset River Resort, the RV Park whose rezone was recently voted down in June’s referendum vote.
Spendlove also wants to help the town become more attractive and inviting to the tourists — an estimated four million each year — who pass through on their way to and from Zion National Park.
Virgin’s voter turnout on Nov. 3 is recorded at 76 percent — the highest in Washington County.
St. George News reporter Reuben Wordsworth contributed to this story.
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I would have much preferred to see the draw end in a dance off. Or maybe a rap battle. A Burr-Hamilton style duel might be going a touch too far, but it would certainly boost interest in local politics.
A dance off would be nice if they allowed a kentucky style jig and then a stare down.
A drunken bar room brawl would of worked for me