Maro wins election to Bradenton Beach seat

Marilyn Maro plucked an ace of spades from a deck of cards Tuesday evening, and her good fortune was rewarded with her election to the Ward 2 city commission seat.

Maro and Anne Leister ended an impasse in which the two candidates received tie votes of 2-2 among commissioners at meetings on Dec. 1 and Dec. 5 to fill the seat vacated by Ed Straight in November.

Maro drew first, and her pick was the highest-ranking card in the deck.

Leister, on the other hand, drew a cellar-dwelling deuce.

“Only in Bradenton Beach, history repeats itself,” chuckled Mayor Bill Shearon, who won his seat under similar circumstances after a deadlock at the polls in the 2015 election. Shearon, like Maro, was elected to office by picking the top card in the deck. “She drew the same card that I did, the ace of spades.”

After the drawing, Maro was sworn in, and she’ll participate in her first meeting as a commissioner on Jan. 5.

This story was originally published December 13, 2016 at 7:36 PM with the headline "Maro wins election to Bradenton Beach seat."