A professional blackjack dealer had "Lady Luck" on his side when he won a coin toss to decide who would be the next mayor of this small ranching community.
Jim Hamsher, 39, and former mayor Paul Woodworth, 80, each received 125 votes Nov. 2 as write-in candidates for mayor of Prairie City, about 290 miles east of Portland.
Both candidates agreed to a coin toss to determine the winner. With 150 townsfolk looking on at the city's main intersection Saturday, Hamsher called "heads" as City Recorder Diane Clingman flipped a commemorative rodeo medal with a bucking horse on one side and the year on the other.
The horse landed up, giving Hamsher the victory.
"I think people were happy," Clingman said. "No pitchforks and torches - they'll save that for the City Council meetings."
A City Council race in Groveland, Fla., was also decided by a coin toss this year after G.P. Sloan and Richard Flynn tied in the general election. Sloan won the toss, and the seat.
