Zepeda wins tie-breaker in Richmond council race

By Allen D. Payton

The tie between Cesar Zepeda and Andrew Butt in the Richmond City Council District 2 race was broken on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, when Richmond City Clerk Pamela Christiansen pulled one of two envelopes out of a shopping bag. The candidates agreed to the process in which each had their name included in an envelope. (See related article)

The name on the green envelope the city clerk removed from the bag was Zepeda’s who will be the new District 2 Councilmember.

Supervisor John Gioia wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday afternoon, “Congratulations to Cesar Zepeda.  And my sympathies to Andrew Butt. This is a very hard way to lose an election after a hard fought campaign.  This shows that #EveryVoteMatters!”

However, as of today, Wednesday, December 7, according to Andrew’s father, outgoing Mayor Tom Butt, the Butt campaign has requested a hand recount of the ballots. More details about that to follow.