"If I had known that, I would've combed my hair and shaved," he said. "I looked like I just came off the roof."

They drew lots to determine who got heads and who got tails. A Susan B. Anthony silver dollar was tossed in the air and landed on the floor.

And then no one was quite sure what they were seeing. "I haven't seen a Susan B. Anthony dollar in a long time," said Askeroth. "I couldn't tell if it was heads or tails."

"I wasn't sure either," says Bettridge. "We looked at it and somebody said, 'Yup, that's heads.' "

That was that. "Congratulations," Askeroth said, shaking Bettridge's hands. "You'll do a good job. Let me know if I can help."

A sore loser? Hardly. "There were six qualified candidates before the primary," said Askeroth. "You could've put everyone's name in a hat and drawn out any name, and you would've been fine."

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Doug Robinson's column runs on Tuesday. Please send e-mail to drob@desnews.com.