Former NBA player Greg Ostertag has been elected mayor of Mount Vernon, Texas, defeating the incumbent by 35 votes. He could become the tallest elected official in the country.
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Greg Ostertag
Credit: Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty
Former NBA big man Greg Ostertag has a new career in which he may still be setting records.
The 7-foot, 2-inch retired center was just elected mayor of the town of Mount Vernon, Texas — which makes him likely the tallest elected official in the country.
“That’s what my wife said. She says as soon as I get sworn in next week, she’s going to call Guinness [Book of World Records] and see,” Ostertag, 53, told The Kansas City Star.
According to Guinness World Records, the current tallest elected official in the U.S. is Jon Godfread, who was elected North Dakota’s insurance commissioner in 2016.
Ostertag’s got a good four inches on the politician, who stands 6 foot, 10 inches tall.
The former Utah Jazz player beat incumbent Brad Hyman by 35 votes — 245-210 — in the election for the top job in Mount Vernon, which has a population of 2,500 and is about 100 miles northeast of Dallas.
Greg Ostertag
Credit: Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty
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Greg Ostertag is a former NBA player who has been elected as the mayor of Mount Vernon, Texas.
Greg Ostertag won the election by a margin of 35 votes.
Yes, Greg Ostertag may become the tallest elected official in the country due to his height.
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Ostertag, a native of the Dallas suburb of Duncanville, has lived in Mount Vernon for 11 years, where he works as a realtor and owns a sports bar called Tag’s Hometown Bar and Grill, according to Tyler ABC affiliate KLTV.
But the former University of Kansas star, who played 11 seasons with the Jazz and the Sacramento Kings, still talks like an athlete.
“Taking that momentum and running with it and just making it a kind of a destination town and getting the people back involved and wanting to and believing in the town again,” Ostertag said about his big plans for the tiny town.
He seemingly had few qualms about the campaign or entering politics, after carving out a career in the paint where he battled legends like Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal.
“I’ve been pat on the back one day and told I was terrible the next day for the last 20 years,” Ostertag said. “So I was not affected by, you know, whether or not I won it all.”
Read the original article on People