BRUNSWICK — When the 2000 presidential election was too close to call in Florida, a monthlong series of recounts and a U.S. Supreme Court decision ultimately decided who would receive the state’s electoral votes.

But Alexia Romero’s fate as the top delegate representing Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District came down to the flip of a coin.

About 200 Democrats from throughout the 13th District met Thursday night in Brunswick to choose delegates to represent the state at the 2008 Democratic National Convention Aug. 25 to 28 in Denver. Democratic Party members throughout Ohio’s 17 other districts also met to select delegates Thursday night.

In Brunswick, delegates supported Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York; Obama; former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards; New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; and Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. About half of those in attendance were in Clinton’s delegation, and three came for Biden. About 60 people came for Obama, and around 20 supported Edwards. Less than 10 people came for Richardson.

Caucus rules state two male delegates, two female delegates and two alternates are chosen to represent each Democratic presidential candidate. Delegate candidates are ranked in first through third place by the number of votes they receive from their peers.

Romero, 19, of Lorain, and Nancy VanDuyn, of Akron, tied for first place in Obama’s delegation with 26 votes.

A friendly coin toss in the Performing Arts Center lobby settled the question. Romero called heads, and the coin landed on tails. VanDuyn was named first delegate; Romero was named second.

“I’m just really excited,” Romero, a political science major at Emory University, said with a big smile before the coin toss. “It was an honor to get so many votes.”

Before the vote was taken, each candidate was allowed to speak briefly. Obama’s supporters crowded into a small theater classroom plastered with posters from recent movie releases. After each candidate spoke, voters marked their top three male and top three female candidates on paper ballots. The top two delegates in each group were determined.

A second round of votes — with the top two delegates eliminated from the list — determined the alternate delegate for men and women.

Being voted the second delegate does not eliminate Romero from going to the national convention, nor does it guarantee her a place, Brunswick Ward 2 Councilman Vince Carl said.

“The number of delegates sent to the national convention depends on how many votes a candidate gets in (the March primary),” Carl said. “So these are possible delegates, and they’re ranked. If your candidate gets a good percent of the votes in the primary, you’re going to the convention. If they don’t get any votes, you’re out.”

Around 25 delegates were selected in Brunswick, but not every presidential candidate’s delegation had enough hopeful candidates to have a “top three” selected.

Anthony Gomez, 17, of Cuyahoga Falls, was chosen the top delegate for Richardson’s group. He brought his mother, Andrea Gomez, and sister, Erika Gomez, 20, along to vote for him. Anyone who is a registered voter and Democrat can vote in a caucus.

“I want to be a delegate because I think it would be a really cool experience,” said Gomez, who sported a white Bill Richardson T-shirt. “You get to meet a lot of people who are like-minded and have the same views and thoughts that I do.”

Andrea, sitting in an auditorium chair flanked by her kids, said she never followed politics until Anthony caught the bug when he was 13. Thursday’s caucus was the family’s first.

“We went down to Columbus to watch Ted Strickland be sworn in,” Andrea said. “I wasn’t into politics at all (until Anthony was).”

When Richardson’s group was called to stand in the auditorium, Gomez scanned the competition — or lack thereof. The people standing for Richardson were hard to tell apart from the people sitting in the huge auditorium and supporting other candidates.

“I’m a shoo-in,” he said, pumping his arm in victory as the group was ushered to the classroom.

The caucus was also a family affair for Romero, whose father, Richard Romero has been a delegate, at every Democratic National Convention since Bill Clinton received his first nomination in 1992. Richard Romero said Alexia has attended the last three conventions with him.

“It’s the meeting interesting people from all over the country and to see that their issues are the same as our issues,” said Richard Romero, who was chosen as an alternate Obama delegate. “You see how passionate people are about what’s important, like affordable health care, being able to provide for your family, education — those are the issues that are really important.”

Brunswick At-Large Councilman Pat McNamara was site coordinator for the caucus and said the city was chosen for its central location within the district, which encompasses Liverpool, Hinckley and Brunswick Hills townships and Brunswick, along with parts of Lorain, Cuyahoga and Summit counties.