OAKLAND - Tie goes to the runner ... in baseball.

In politics, you have a do over.

That's what happened in this western Bergen County town of almost 13,000 after two council candidates both got 2,516 votes last fall. They were Republican Kevin Slasinski, an incumbent, and Independent Matthew Dumpert.

The special "do over" election was Tuesday and the results were shocking - especially for local Republicans.

Dumpert beat GOP incumbent Slasinski by an overwhelming margin - more than a thousand votes.

The tally was 1,888 to 770.

This is one election in one town, but, not surprisingly, it generated a lot of local attention.

Republicans said Dumpert was "lying to the voters" and that he is a "Democrat in disguise."

Dumpert countered that he is a "true, lifelong independent."

His win means the seven-member mayor and council will now have five Republicans and two independents.

The Bergen County Republican Organization was "all in" for Slasinski. He was backed by local GOP office holders from state Sen. Holly Schepisi on down.

There was even a dustup with Frank Pallotta, the party's 2020 and 2022 CD-5 congressional candidate, who is no fan of the BCRO.

The county organization said Pallotta was "falsely portraying himself" as a member of the Oakland GOP in backing Dumpert.

The gist of Pallotta's response was that the BCRO has been known recently for one thing - losing elections.

It added thusly:

"If the BCRO wants to regain credibility, it should start by taking some measure of responsibility! Stop lashing out at your own membership and do the hard work of rebuilding a strong Republican party that you have squandered."

All elections are tough to figure, but this one will take more analysis than most.

In one election, the candidates are tied. In the next election four months later, a candidate wins by more than 1,000 votes. Tough to explain.