A mayoral race in Eastern Kentucky has ended with a coin toss.
Under Kentucky law, election ties must be broken by “lot,” with the ultimate winner selected at random. So when Butler Mayor Greg McElfresh and Councilmember Mason Taylor each garnered 55 votes for mayor, someone suggested a coin toss to break the tie.
The county sheriff, who flipped the coin, assigned heads to McElfresh and tails to Taylor.
“The coin circled around the floor about three times and spun and then it just flopped over on tails and I had this big exhale of relief," Taylor told WCPO.
And just like that, Taylor became mayor-elect of the 600-person town.
Election coin tosses are nothing new. Coin flips have been used to determine winners in Maricopa, Arizona; Seguin, Texas; Kingsburg, California; and San Barnardino, California.