The Prescott mayoral race between Michael Gerke and Bailey Ruona ended in a tie—397 votes each.
Well, what do you do with a tie? The City of Prescott wondered this too and turned to the Wisconsin Election Commission website for answers. One of the suggestions to break a tie was a coin toss.
So that’s what the candidates did. KDWA connected with Ruth, a Prescott City Hall employee who attended the coin too. About the candidates’ reactions to the proposed coin toss, Ruth says both were “neutral.”
The two candidates performed the coin toss. Gerke called “tails,” and Ruona flipped the coin. It was tails, making Gerke the winner of the Prescott mayoral election.
Michael Gerke, who serves on the Prescott City Council, will be sworn in on April 21.
KDWA will have more on this report in future broadcasts.