Mayor Stubbs

The election is fast approaching, but if you thought that the only animals in government were donkeys and elephants, think again.

In America, people aren’t the only ones who can run for political office — meet the cow, canine, cat and billy goat who all earned the title of honorary mayor in their respective towns.

And we bet that they're probably better liked than some of their human counterparts!

Mayor Stubbs, Talkeetna, Alaska

Fifteen years ago, residents of Talkeetna, a small town located at the base of Mount McKinley, didn’t like the candidates for mayor.

So they elected a yellow cat in a write-in campaign.

Mayor Stubbs still holds the honorary title and attracts dozens of tourists a day to the general store where he resides. He also boasts more than 24,000 fans on Facebook.

Mayor April the Cow, Eastsound, Wash.

For a July 2011 fundraiser to benefit the Orca Island Children’s House, Eastsounders voted for April the Cow as their honorary mayor, raising nearly $5,000 for the early learning center.

Garnering 57 percent of the vote, April won as a true write-in — she had been an official candidate the previous two years, only to be bested by dogs each time.

Although the bovine chose not to run for office this year, and just turned the key to the city over to a Portuguese Water Dog, she remains one of Eastsound’s most memorable mayors.

Mayor Jack, Coronado, Calif.

Upon hearing of other small towns that had animal mayors, real estate agent Apua Garbutt thought it only appropriate that her canine-loving city have a dog mayor.

Two years ago, she partnered with the Pacific Animal Welfare Society to raise funds for the nonprofit rescue organization through the city's first canine mayoral race.

Current mayor Jack, a Brittany Spaniel, was inaugurated to his two-year term in April of this year. Jack’s responsibilities include accompanying the human mayor at ribbon-cutting ceremonies, parades and other major ceremonial events.

Mayor Clay Henry, Lajitas, Texas

In the 1980s, a group of friends gathered at the Thirsty Goat Saloon in the unincorporated town of Lajitas, where they decided it was time to choose a mayor.

A Houstonian named Tommy Steele was “elected,” which irked local Bill Ivey. So he got to thinking that if a man from Houston could be mayor, so could his goat, Clay Henry.

And thus began the “Vote the Goat” campaign.

Clay Henry lost the first election, but he won the second one by a landslide. Since his death, Clay Henry II and Clay Henry III have both held office.

The original resides — stuffed — at the Starlight Theatre in town.