Tails I win: coin toss sends North Carolina candidate into mayor’s office

Robert Burns and Bob Yanacsek tie for 970 votes in race for Monroe mayor - and Burns wins it after Yanacsek incorrectly calls heads

In US politics, the slimmer the margins, the crazier things can get. And that reality has vaulted the winner of a coin flip into the mayor's office of a North Carolina city.

The new mayor of Monroe, Robert Burns, and the runner-up, Bob Yanacsek, had signed up to run alongside three other candidates in a 7 November election that generated low voter turnout.