A Politician Lost an Election by One Vote Because He Was Too Polite to Vote for Himself
Damion Green ran for a city council seat in Rainier, a small Washington town with about 2,400 residents. The 2023 race was close from the start, but nobody expected it to come down to a single ballot. Damion ended up with 246 votes while his opponent, Ryan Roth, finished with 247. That one extra vote belonged to Ryan, and it handed him the win.
The election took place on November 7, 2023, but the result was not settled quickly. The margin was so slim that it triggered a mandatory manual recount. Officials in Thurston County spent weeks verifying ballots, hand-tallying totals, and confirming machine counts. On December 1, 2023, the canvassing board certified the final numbers. The difference between the candidates was just 0.2%.
Damion could have changed everything by voting for himself. He chose not to because he said it felt self-centered. He joked that he was not great at promoting himself and that voting for himself seemed like stacking the deck.
Two Candidates and Very Different Choices
Image via Canva/Studioroman
Damion works in an auto shop and said he did not campaign much. He believed that either candidate would serve the city well and that the community would benefit regardless of who won. He even said he met Ryan and thought he would do fine in the role. Damion also mentioned that he previously ran as a write-in candidate and might run again, saying the third time could be the charm.
Ryan works as a landfill manager and almost waited too long to vote. He had planned to send in his ballot earlier, but daily life delayed him. His wife encouraged him to fill it out and send it in, and he finally mailed it just a few days before the deadline. Later, he said he realized that his own vote had given him the seat and admitted that winning by one vote felt surreal.
Both candidates ran on ideas about how Rainier should handle growth. The city is small, but it is expanding, and voters wanted someone who could help guide that change. Even though the race was calm and friendly, the finish was dramatic.
What the Near Tie Reveals About Voting
A coin toss was nearly used to settle the race, which sounds unusual but is a real rule for small towns in Washington. Ryan even joked that he would have picked tails. The possibility wasn’t far-fetched since a nearby mayoral primary in Tenino ended in a 136–136 tie in 2015 and was decided the same way.
Both candidates kept returning to the same point after the final count. Ryan said the outcome proved that every vote carries weight. Damion accepted the result with good spirits and said he still felt hopeful about the city. Local officials and news outlets echoed that message, noting that one ballot made the difference.
The story stands out because it shows the impact of a single decision. One person cast a vote, another skipped it because it felt awkward, and that simple choice shaped Rainier’s 2023 election. It’s an example that strips away abstraction and shows exactly how close local democracy can be.