While sometimes our elected officials might act like animals, many people thought the following actual four-legged felines would make great leaders! Here are 6 cats who ran for political office. Some of them even won! Would any of these kitties get your vote?
Hank the Cat
Hank the Cat, the Springfield, Virginia, feline who ran an unusual grassroots campaign for U.S. Senate in 2012, accomplished something truly impressive on Election Night – he not only raised $60,000 for animal rescue organizations but actually wound up placing third, according to a tabulation of write-in votes!
Hank’s campaign started as a joke when his humans were tired of seeing campaign signs along the side of the road and decided to enter their own cat in the race. They were surprised to find out that he actually got 7,319 write-in votes!
Barsik the Scottish Fold
Barsik, the 18-month-old Scottish Fold cat unofficially ran for mayor of the Siberian town of Barnaul. Residents of the city were tired of the corruption of the human politicians and, clearly, wanted a different kind of leader! Unfortunately, Barsik was never formally registered as a candidate because according to a poll, he would’ve won by a landslide. 91.6% of those polled said he would’ve gotten their vote!
Morris for Mayor
Mexican voters frustrated with rats in politics turned to another option in 2013 – a black-and-white cat named Morris. Nominated for mayor of Xalapa by two students as a joke, the cat has amassed a fanbase of over 370,000 on Facebook and actually got more than 7,500 votes on election day. Morris wasn’t allowed on the ballot, but his owners said he would make a perfect politician: he sleeps and does nothing all day.
According to the CNN, 550 voters for the ‘Candigato’ posted on Facebook a picture of their ballots.
Tuxedo Stan
Stan was a 3-year-old feline running on the “Tuxedo Party” platform in hopes of raising awareness about the stray cat problem in Halifax, Canada in the 2012 election. While municipal law actually bans animals from holding office, Tuxedo Stan was able to garner a pretty big following – he was publicly endorsed by Ellen Degeneres and Anderson Cooper – and brought a lot of awareness about the importance of spaying and neutering cats.
Halifax city council provided a $40,000 grant to the local SPCA in Tuxedo Stan’s name in the months after the election to help establish a low cost spay and neuter clinic.
Sadly, Stan passed away from kidney cancer in 2013, the Tuxedo Party is continuing his important work with two other cats, Earl Grey and TJ.
Stubbs
Stubbs is a cat who was the honorary mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, from 1997 until his death in 2017.
Lauri Stec, manager of Nagley’s General Store in Talkeetna, found Stubbs in a box full of kittens in her parking lot. She named him “Stubbs” because he did not have a tail.
A popular rumor states Stubbs was elected following a successful write-in campaign by voters who opposed the human candidates. However, according to NPR, the cat could not have been elected as a write-in candidate because the town is only a “historical district” and has no real mayor. Stubbs’s position was honorary.
Nagley’s General Store now doubles as Stubbs’ Mayoral Office and the tabby spent most of his time palling around with constituents at a local general store, sleeping, and sipping water laced with catnip from a wine glass.
Limberbutt McCubbins
We were hoping the Secret Service started brushing up on their litter scooping skills because this was a 2016 Presidential candidate we could ALL get behind!
Isaac Weiss, a 17-year-old senior at duPont Manual High School in Louisville, Kentucky thought it would be funny to enlist his friend’s cat in the 2016 Presidential race. The cat belongs to 18-year-old Emilee McCubbins, also a senior at Manual.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, Limberbutt McCubbins is a Democrat (or as Weiss puts it, a “demo-cat”). Candidate McCubbins’ campaign had an official Facebook page and website, www.limberbutt2016.com.
RELATED: Presidential Pets: A History of Animals in the White House
Final Thoughts
May the tales of these six cats who ran for political office, including the famous Stubbs, the honorary mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, remind us of the fascinating and sometimes whimsical intersections of politics and feline companions. While their campaigns may have been lighthearted, they captured the attention and affection of communities worldwide, proving that even in the realm of politics, cats can leave an indelible paw print.
These feline candidates brought joy, unity, and a touch of humor to their constituents, reminding us that sometimes the most unexpected candidates can bring about a sense of camaraderie and remind us to not take ourselves too seriously in the process. May their stories continue to inspire us and bring a smile to our faces as we navigate the intricacies of human governance.
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