Firefighter, 25, elected mayor of Kentucky city by a flip of a COIN after opponents tie

A Kentucky mayor was elected by a flip of a coin after tying with his opponent. 

Mason Taylor, 25, held his breath as Pendleton County Sheriff Edwin Quinn flip a shiny, silver quarter to decide his fate. 

Him and his opponent and current mayor Greg McElfresh tied with 55 votes each in Butler, Kentucky, and state law required tied races to be decided with a coin toss. 

After Quinn tossed their fates in the air, it circled three times before landing on tails and sealing the Gen-Z candidate’s fate. 

‘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,’ new Mayor-Elect Taylor told WCPO. 

Taylor is holding on to the quarter since his win and said he has be plans for the small town of 600. 

Mason Taylor, 25, (left) held his breath as Pendleton County Sheriff Edwin Quinn (right) flip a shiny, silver quarter to decide his fate

Him and his opponent and current mayor Greg McElfresh tied with 55 votes each in Butler, Kentucky, and state law required tied races to be decided with a coin toss

‘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,’ new Mayor-Elect Taylor said 

‘Going forward, I want to expand us geographically so that way we can increase revenue in the city, but I also want to make the City of Butler a place where my kids can grow up and my kids’ kids can grow up,’ Taylor, who has spent his whole life in the city, told the outlet.

He also said he wanted to bring new businesses to the town and repair its infrastructure. 

‘I want to reassure people that, going forward, my visions for the city are going to remain [the same as] the campaign promises that I ran on,’ he told the outlet.  

Taylor is also a member of city council and works as a firefighter and a paramedic. 

This isn’t the first time Butler has used a coin toss to decide a politician’s fate. In 2018, a city council race used the same method. 

Kentucky, alongside 28 other states, use similar methods to decide between ties, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Current Mayor Greg McElfresh lost his seat after the coin toss