Lucy Lou

 

Lucy Lou, 2006 (Rabbit Hash, Ky.) - September 10, 2018 (Rabbit Hash, Ky.)

VP candidate for Demeowcatic Repurrblican Party (2012)

Running mate with nominee: Stubbs the Cat (1997-2017)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Talkeetna, Alaska was not actually an incorporated municipality when Stubbs the Cat was "elected" Mayor in 1997 as a part-Manx kitten with no tail (hence the name "Stubbs"). A whole fable grew around Stubbs that he was elected by write-in vote over human opponents for the job of Mayor but his appointment seemed to be more by social consensus than electoral ritual.

There existed a campaign in 2012 to elect Stubbs for President under the banner of the Demeowcatic Repurrblican Party and with a dog named Lucy Lou as his VP. Unfortunately it seems Facebook was the main venue for electioneering information and a good deal of it has been erased. However, according to the Catsparella website, Lucy Lou was indeed the running-mate.

At the same time Stubbs was running for President, he was also the VP on the Felines First Party ticket with Morris the Cat of 9Lives fame. I'm not making this up.

Anyway, Lucy Lou was the canine mayor of unincorporated Rabbit Hash, Ky. in much the same honorary manner as Stubbs in Talkeetna. In the late 1990s, shortly after Stubbs assumed office, the Kentucky community "elected" a dog as their mayor as a fundraiser, a dollar per ballot and a voter could vote as many times as they wanted. One waggish (get it?) reporter commented the election was "ostensibly modeled after the real mayoral elections held in Chicago."

Lucy Lou, a beautiful border collie, became the third canine Mayor of Rabbit Hash in 2008, defeating "15 other candidates including a cat, an opossum and a human."

Lucy Lou stepped down from her mayoral duties in 2016 and entered the Presidential race in the same year, filing with the FEC Dec. 30, 2015 under the name Lucy Lou Kayser. During her campaign announcement she was adorned with a tutu.

Election history:
2008-2016 - Mayor of Rabbit Hash, Ky. (honorary)
2016 - US President (Independent) - defeated

Other occupations: dog

Buried: ?

Notes:
The chronology here is foggy, but it appears Stubbs' Presidential campaign was already well under way when he also became Morris the Cat's VP.

Stubbs the Cat

 

Stubbs the Cat, April 12, 1997 (Talkeetna, Alaska) – July 21, 2017 (Talkeetna, Alaska)

VP candidate for Felines First Party (2012)

Running mate with nominee: Morris the Cat
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

On Oct. 11, 2012 9Lives catfood spokesfeline Morris the Cat was quoted in a press release, "It's time to let the cat out of the bag - I'm running for President. As we head out on the campaign trail, my hope is that Mayor Stubbs and I put our best paw forward in representing all cats everywhere." Mayor Stubbs, the perhaps literal running-mate, was none other than Stubbs the Cat, the Mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska.

Morris the Cat I (ca1961-1978) was apolitical. Morris the Cat II (ca1978-1997) ran for President in 1988 and 1992 and was also named in 1988 by Lyle Morris Schlieder as his VP. Morris III served as the mascot from 1995-2000, and Morris IV was assigned in 2000. After that point the actual number of Morris cats becomes clouded in conflicting sources.

Talkeetna, Alaska was not actually an incorporated municipality when Stubbs the Cat was "elected" Mayor in 1997 as a part-Manx kitten with no tail (hence the name "Stubbs"). Like Morris, Stubbs found himself in the role of commercial spokesperson gaining publicity for a product, in his case tourism for Talkeetna. So a whole fable grew around Stubbs that he was elected by write-in vote over human opponents for the job of Mayor.

Prior to being selected as the running-mate for Morris, there already existed a campaign to elect Stubbs for President under the banner of the Demeowcatic Repurrblican Party and with a dog named Lucy Lou as his VP (probably the border collie who was "Mayor" of Rabbit Hash, Ky.). Unfortunately it seems Facebook was the main venue for electioneering information and a good deal of it has been erased. Whether Stubbs was running both for President in one party and Vice-President in another at the same time is difficult to ascertain.

After the election Stubbs went through a serious misfortune. On Aug. 31, 2013 the aging cat was mauled by a dog. 9Lives paid the $3000 vet bill to heal Stubbs, and a few thousand more dollars were sent by well wishers. The bump in publicity no doubt was behind the decision to run Stubbs for the US Senate in 2014. It also appears there some kind of effort to run Stubbs for President in 2016.

At other points in his life Stubbs had survived being shot by a BB gun and falling into a deep fat fryer that was cooling.

Stubbs' peaceful death at age 20 in 2017 made national news. His mayoral position was filled by a cat named Denali. There was a campaign to elect Stubbs for president in 2020 even though he was deceased.

Election history:
1997-2017 - Mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska (honorary)
2012 - US President (Demeowcatic Repurrblican Party) - withdrew?
2014 - US Senate (Alaska) (Independent) - defeated
2016 - US President (Demeowcatic Repurrblican Party) - defeated

Other occupations: cat

Buried: ?

Notes:
The number of write-in votes Stubbs earned in 2014 was not reported.
First third party VP born in Alaska.