A six-month old French bulldog named Wilbur Beast is the newly elected mayor of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky.
“The results are in for the most important election that happened this year!” announced Lady Stone, a border collier who serves as an ambassador of the town, on Wednesday in her social media page.
Wilbur defeated incumbent Brynneth Pawltro, a pit bull who won the 2016 mayoral race. 43-year-old Amy Noland, Wilbur’s fur-mom, attributes her doggo’s success to her platform on mental health and breast cancer awareness, which is an issue close to them as Noland’s 65-year-old mother is a breast cancer survivor.
“He’s done a lot of campaigning,” Noland told CNN. “He’s been all over social media, and he hosted a lot of events.”
Rabbit Hash has been electing canines as dogs since 1998, where Goofy Borneman won a four-year term, but he tragically died before his term ended.
But, why are they electing dogs as mayors? The election serves as a fundraiser for the 3.5-acre town maintained by the Rabbit Hash Historical Society. “Voting” for mayor costs $1 that goes towards maintaining the town, and in fact, anyone around the world can vote.
Wilbur has won 13,143 of the 22,985 ballots, the highest voting count ever, which is also equivalent to $22,985 of funds raised for the town.
Those who wish to run for the next mayoral race should be within an hour walking distance of the town, according to Noland.
