Politics might seem to be even more polarizing than usual these days. It's difficult for people to find a candidate to trust. This applies to candidates of pretty much any kind of political view.
A town in Vermont is taking something a different approach. For the position of mayor, they've gone against humans altogether. And it's not the first time town residents have decided to do so.
A choice between a goat and a dog
Fair Haven, located in western Vermont, is having a unique mayoral election. For the second year in a row, a goat and a dog have been put forward as candidates.
The incumbent is an Anglo-Nubian goat called Lincoln. In 2019, she was elected by less than five votes. The dog she was competing with was a Samoyed named Sammie.
This time around, a different dog with a similar name is in the running. A German Shepherd named Sammy is a candidate this time around. As reported by KXXV, Sammy is also a member of Fair Haven's police force.
According to NBC, the election is being used to raise funds for a local playground. People who want to vote are to pay a small fee. Unlike many other elections, both candidates are exceedingly popular with voters. Even the Fair Haven police chief, who put forward Sammy as a candidate, has high praise for Lincoln. He said she 'has done a great job' and 'has represented the community well.' Neither Lincoln nor Sammy have any particular affiliation with a political party.
It's true that whichever candidate wins the race for mayor would have some expectations. However, much of the day-to-day responsibilities would be handled by the town manager.
Not the first non-human candidate to be elected
Lincoln's election as mayor was far the first instance of this sort of thing in the United States. In Idyllwild, California, a dog named Max II was elected mayor for life.
Every elected mayor of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, has been a dog. All members of the village council of Omena, Michigan, are animals.
Other recent animal office-holders include Duke, a Great Pyrenees dog. Duke won four terms as mayor of Cormorant Township, Minnesota, before he passed away in 2019. Another was Stubbs, a cat who was mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, for 20 years before passing away in 2017.
Stubbs was also a write-in candidate during Alaska's U.S. Senate race in 2014.
In 2014, a Maine Coon cat named Hank was nominated for the U.S. Senate in Virginia. Hank actually got a significant amount of support, tallying almost 7,000 votes. Though he still fell short of two humans, Tim Kaine and George Allen.
International animal political candidates include Cacareco, a rhinoceros. Cacareco received over 100,000 votes for the city council of Sao Paola, Brazil, in 1958. That was the most of any candidate, but officials did not recognize Cacareco's election as legitimate.
