A town in Colorado is searching for its next mayor. However, the winning candidate will not be Republican nor Democrat — nor even human.Instead, the next officeholder will be covered with fur and will surely be beloved by its constituents. And this special mayoral race is all for a good cause. For the past 12 years, the town of Divide, Colorado, has elected an animal as mayor. It’s all part of a long-running campaign hosted by the Teller County Regional Animal Shelter. All of the funds raised during the election go to their shelter — helping to provide everything needed to run a nonprofit. “It brings awareness to our small rural shelter and it also allows us to raise money for all of the animals that come through our shelter,” said Kathleen Ruyak, the shelter’s marketing coordinator. “There’s about a thousand animals we help a year, even though we have about 1500 square feet of shelter.” This is the current mayor of Divide — Clyde the Donkey. He’s less than three months away from hitting his term limit, but has big plans for this political future.”He’s been requested to run for president,” joked Debbie Bibb, from Running D Ranch. “So as he steps down from there, he is going to be concentrating on spreading the word. And who knows? You know, we maybe have a donkey for president.” Voting for Divide’s 2024 animal election can be done online and costs $2 per vote. To add your animal’s name into the hat, applications are due by Jan. 31. Officials say that, so far, the current field for the town’s upcoming election consists of three dogs.
A town in Colorado is searching for its next mayor.
However, the winning candidate will not be Republican nor Democrat — nor even human.
Instead, the next officeholder will be covered with fur and will surely be beloved by its constituents.
And this special mayoral race is all for a good cause.
For the past 12 years, the town of Divide, Colorado, has elected an animal as mayor.
It’s all part of a long-running campaign hosted by the Teller County Regional Animal Shelter.
All of the funds raised during the election go to their shelter — helping to provide everything needed to run a nonprofit.
“It brings awareness to our small rural shelter and it also allows us to raise money for all of the animals that come through our shelter,” said Kathleen Ruyak, the shelter’s marketing coordinator. “There’s about a thousand animals we help a year, even though we have about 1500 square feet of shelter.”
This is the current mayor of Divide — Clyde the Donkey.
He’s less than three months away from hitting his term limit, but has big plans for this political future.
“He’s been requested to run for president,” joked Debbie Bibb, from Running D Ranch. “So as he steps down from there, he is going to be concentrating on spreading the word. And who knows? You know, we maybe have a donkey for president.”
Voting for Divide’s 2024 animal election can be done online and costs $2 per vote.
To add your animal’s name into the hat, applications are due by Jan. 31.
Officials say that, so far, the current field for the town’s upcoming election consists of three dogs.
