Joe Daugherty and Steve Elkins each received 530 votes for the sixth and final seat on Park Hills City Council, so the ballot count alone could not separate them. On Tuesday morning, Kenton County Clerk Gabrielle Summe presided over a coin toss at the Kenton County Government Center, and Daugherty won the seat.
The tie was confirmed earlier this month, when WVXU reported that Daugherty and Elkins each received 530 votes, or 9.7 percent of the total, in the race for Park Hills’ nonpartisan city council. A separate county results page also listed both men at 530 votes, but put each candidate’s share at 10 percent of reported votes — a discrepancy that remains unresolved.
How Kentucky Resolves Election Ties
Kentucky law says a tie for the highest vote total is determined by lot in the manner the election board directs, in the presence of at least three other people, according to the Kentucky General Assembly. The statute does not specifically prescribe a coin toss.
The deciding procedure began with a draw to determine who would call the coin side. According to the Lexington Herald Leader, the candidates put their names in a hat, and Elkins’ name was drawn. The coin was a Kenton County Sheriff’s Office commemorative challenge coin, with a starred sheriff’s badge on one side and an American flag on the other.
A Coin Toss With Real Stakes
Elkins called the American flag side, but it did not come up. The toss went to Daugherty, giving him the council seat, according to the same account.
Summe said the outcome marked the third political race in the past 15 years that has come down to a coin flip, the report states. Northern Kentucky isn’t the only part of the state where ballots have ended up tied this cycle. According to WLKY, a race for magistrate in Robertson County’s 2nd Magisterial District also ended in a dead heat, with Republican Benny Ray Renner and Democrat Kristen Gifford Fryman each pulling 91 votes. Officials there settled that race with a coin flip too, following a recommendation from the Kentucky State Board of Elections, and Fryman came out on top.
Who's Heading Back to Park Hills Council
Daugherty isn’t new to the council chamber. He previously served on Park Hills City Council starting in 2022, but lost his reelection bid in 2024 before mounting this latest run. With the coin flip behind him, he’ll now represent just over 3,000 Park Hills residents.
Ten candidates appeared on the ballot for Park Hills City Council’s six seats this cycle, and voters were able to choose up to six names apiece. Park Hills sits directly south of Devou Park and across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, making it one of several small Northern Kentucky communities whose local elections draw outsized attention simply for sharing a border with a much larger city.
