very friendly, likes a crowd and enjoys being the center of attention. Like any politician, humans aren't the only ones in the middle of an election cycle. One small town in Vermont appoints a mayor of the four legged variety. Meet Lincoln, a Nubian goat and the first pet mayor of Fair Haven, Vermont, elected to office in 2019. Her campaign caused quite the international stir. I got a phone call from Paris. They wanted to know what was going on. And then this year we made the A rumor times in 2019 the first round of the Pet Mayor race. Just because I think it was the first time this was happening. Word spread, especially in France. They were very interested to know what was happening. What's going on? Why's there go being the mayor? Liz Strep, a a reporter for New Station My NBC five covered the goat mayors rise to political fame and her 2020 bid for re election. But don't worry, Fairhaven isn't actually taking executive orders from a goat. The idea electing an animal mayor really started because the school needed a new playground, their playgrounds. I think 30 years old, it's just really not safe. This slide has a big hole in it, and it's just going down. So as a fund raiser, Teoh get a new playground. They thought of this idea. You know, why don't you let a pet mayor and that will spark donations? That's really their only platform, that these candidates are running forest to raise money. So these animals really aren't making any major decisions in the town. They're really more of a mascot to encourage people to donate money to those students. A new playground Last year's election was pretty small. There were, I believe, three candidates. Lincoln ended up winning. She was a young, spunky little goat, very friendly. So I think that really helped her win that election. Lincoln's first days Mayer was very official, though politicians on four legs do come with their challenges. Last year, Lincoln was attending her swearing in ceremony. She had a little bit of an accident. She lost some for marbles. I guess you could say over things a little bit of a commotion there, but it was very entertained. She made her mark. You could say that wasn't one of her final. She, I guess, had a pretty successful first term, which is why she was seeking re election this year. The pet election turned out to be a huge hit both in and out of Fairhaven. So when the 2020 cycle began, competition was fierce because last year was such a big success. And there was so much publicity about Lincoln becoming the town's first pet mayor. A lot of students in the Fairhaven grade school wanted to nominate their own pets, so we had a bunny, a hamster old horse. I think there were five or six dogs. Five acts. There were 18 candidates. There were three main candidates that stood out to voters. Lincoln, the incumbent goat, Sammy, the police canine. And Murphy, the therapy dog. Lincoln at a very successful first term as mayor being an incumbent. A lot of people knew her name already that she was definitely a front runner. She raised. I think, about 1000 or so dollars for the playground, but the goal is $80,000. They really need to raise a lot more money. Murphy thinks reading is important for kids. He thinks having a safe place to play and be outside and get off their phones. This has important. Murphy, a therapy dog, volunteers at the Bear Even grade school, so students were already very familiar with Murphy and Spur. These owner also had several fund raisers during his campaign, though he raised about $500 before the actual town meeting day vote for the school's playground. We were amazed that we were able to raise that much. And then there, Sammy, but police canine Sammy was actually a rescue dog. All the kids were very from there with her, and they're always I wanted her to come in and pay a visit. Do you get to vote today? Welcome to the election stuff Surveying the voters at the polls. A lot of them were very interested in what the name of the animal waas, but also how cute they were. Why do you want to be the war? Said She's so you want 4 to 9 semi because he's true. Why did you want pizzazz? He's cute, and she likes the log on leashes out polling place on town meeting day. A few of the candidates were outside kind of doing a meet and greet with the kids, though I think that could have swayed some of the undecided voters if they had a good experience. He's feeling great. You got to greet all the kids coming to vote. So it was his day. Well, I think she's hungry. That's about yet She's been nibbling on the building. It's a different sort of a day for Everybody Loves Dogs. And then there's even a greater population of love. Police K Nights, Theo Day after a town meeting day, I was in the classroom with a bunch of eighth graders who are counting ballots, and we were there as the results came in. I won't Lincoln doing because I wanted Lincoln personally because he leaves a lot of money for the playground. Last year, I will say this. Eighth grade class WAAS Chris Stan's Class Kristan is Lincoln's owner, so they were a little biased. They really, really were pretty for Lincoln to win. It's my pleasure to announce the winner of the mayoral race fair in Vermont this year. There are a winner is Murphy the dog with 146 votes. When it was announced over the speaker that Murphy had one, there was a little bit of the side. They were a little disappointed, but it didn't take long for them to start cheering and applauding for Murphy. They were very excited that passing the torch on and it's a new year. I think they're looking forward to seeing what Murphy will do with his mayoral seat. I think Murphy will do a great job with the playground fun, so I really wanted him from that store sampling to win. Yeah, I asked him. He didn't care, but he's a new playground and an excuse to see adorable animals weren't the only benefits to the 2020 pet election. The kids were able to learn valuable lessons about exercising their voting rights. Your vote is your voice in the Democratic process. You have a lifetime of voting ahead of you, and I have to take that chance. Every opportunity you get. At the end of the day, this whole pet mayor raises to raise money for the playground, but also to really introduce kids to the importance of voting and taking election seriously, getting to the voting booth and making your voice heard. That's a right that we all have. You know, where U. S citizens and starting that process really early and getting Kate's excited about this process. That's really built goal of all of this. It doesn't matter who wins the playground, the kids, that's what it's about. They haven't reached their goal yet for the playground, but they're really helping that. Murphy can pulls through and get a lot of donations during his time as mayor. And, of course, we had to know. Will this small Vermont town ever hand over the mayoral office to a human? I don't think that there haven will have a human mayor anytime soon. Because Fairhaven has a human town manager, which is essentially sort of the same thing as a mayor. He makes a lot of the big decisions. He oversees that select board. So I think the town government is free, comfortable with just having a town manager. But I think they also really love having a pet mayor. If you'd like to donate to the Fairhaven Grade School Playground Fund, check out the link to the go Fund me in the description box. I'm Alexander Stone, and from everyone here it dispatches from the middle. Thanks for watching