Silver Dollar Flip Decides Kentucky Local Election

WASHINGTON - MAY 4: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer; Henrietta Fore, director of the U.S. Mint; and Frank Jones, president of the Supreme Court Historical Society hold a ceremony to unveil the Chief Justice John Marshall Silver Dollar, May 4, 2005 at the Supreme Court Upper Great Hall in Washington, DC. The new silver dollar commemorates the 250th anniversary of Marshall's birthday, Sept. 24, 1755, and it is the first coin produced by the U.S. Mint honoring a Supreme Court Justice. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - MAY 4: The observe, or heads side of the new Chief Justice John Marshall Silver Dollar which was unveiled May 4, 2005 at the Supreme Court Upper Great Hall in Washington, DC. The new silver dollar comme... WASHINGTON - MAY 4: The observe, or heads side of the new Chief Justice John Marshall Silver Dollar which was unveiled May 4, 2005 at the Supreme Court Upper Great Hall in Washington, DC. The new silver dollar commemorates the 250th anniversary of Marshall's birthday September 24, 1755, and it is the first coin produced by the U.S. Mint honoring a Supreme Court Justice. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

RUSSELLVILLE, Ky. (AP) — With both candidates in a Kentucky magistrate primary tied at 127 votes, they used a coin flip to decide the race.

One of the Democrats, Boyce Coles, said a runoff “wouldn’t be nothing but a … mess.”

The other, Barry Perkins, called it a fair way to resolve the surprising result. He said he “couldn’t imagine it ending in a durn tie to start with.”

And with that, a silver dollar was flipped into the air on Tuesday.

The Daily News reported that County Clerk Scottie Harper put pieces of paper reading heads and tails into different envelopes. Each candidate chose one. After the coin landed on tails, they opened their envelopes and learned that Coles will face Republican Robert Chyle in November.

Latest News
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: