In Tamarac, they'll get to do it again next month, but in North Lauderdale the matter was settled.

As voters went to the polls Tuesday to decide who would fill a Tamarac commission seat, a political newcomer forced the city to call a special election Dec. 18 to pick a mayor.

The return of Gunther Livingston, who had qualified and then bowed out as a mayoral candidate, drew the wrath of Mayor Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco. She would have automatically been reelected if no one had stepped forward by noon Wednesday.

``It's a very, very sad day,'' she said after Livingston qualified at 2:45 p.m. Tuesday. ``He's making a mockery of the process.''

In North Lauderdale, Mayor Jack Brady sailed back into office Tuesday, defeating challenger Bruce Tumin.

Brady, who has served on the City Commission since 1988, campaigned on the promise of attracting business to the city.

``Thank God,'' Brady said Tuesday as he heard of his landslide victory, 744 votes to 128. Brady, 67, a retired school teacher, made the rounds of polling places beginning at 6:45 a.m. ``Vote on past experience. I had military experience; he's had none,'' Brady told voters at the polls.

News about next month's Tamarac mayoral race wasn't the only surprise. The do-over vote on whether the unincorporated Prospect Bend neighborhood would be annexed into Tamarac ended in a tie -- and threw city and election officials into a frenzy of confusion over what to do next.

It was the second time in a year and a half that the question was on the ballot. The first time, no one voted. This time, only 10 out of 140 eligible voters cast ballots. They split 5-5.

Hours after the final count, city officials and attorneys traded a flurry of text messages and phone calls. Some said it could possibly be decided by drawing lots, but no one seemed sure of who would do the drawing or whether that was even appropriate in an annexation referendum. Late Tuesday, the question remained unresolved.

Also Tuesday, Patricia Atkins-Grad beat political newcomer Patti Lynn 658 votes to 425 for the District 2 commission seat representing the Woodlands, Vanguard Village, Lime Bay neighborhoods and parts of the Mainlands.

The mayor's election was supposed to happen Tuesday, too. Instead, while three contenders appeared on the ballot, none of the votes cast were counted.

Originally, three people planned to run for mayor: Flansbaum-Talabisco, Livingston and Ed Portner, a former commissioner.

But after the ballots were printed, Livingston dropped out, citing ``personal reasons.'' Then Portner was arrested and charged with waving a gun at his daughter, Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter, after she backed his opponent. When Portner was arrested, Livingston tried to, as he said, ``withdraw my withdrawal,'' but was told it was too late. Portner eventually dropped out, too.

That led officials to scramble and call for a new five-day qualifying period that began Oct. 29.

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