The Guadalajara Reporter

Citizens nominate pets and farm animals for political positions

Begun by Sergio Chamorro, a 35-year-old office worker, and a company of friends also disillusioned with the transparently false promises of human candidates, the ten-year-old, adopted “Morris the Cat” is running for mayor of Xapala, the capital of Veracruz state.  

Morris’ campaign slogan: “Tired of voting for Rats?  Vote for a Cat.”

Mexico’s governments, notorious among its citizens for decades of surreal antics, seems to have abruptly tweeked the mischievous (but deadly serious) side of the nation’s funny-bone.  The result: A black-and-white, four-footed feline candidate that tens of thousands of voters have found the “ideal” political aspirant to rally around.  

It’s a field of political fancy that’s becoming nearly as populous as it is popular.  Numerous off-spring are appearing throughout the Republic, with more coming.  Running for mayor in the frontier town of Ciudad Juarez is “Chon the Burro”;  “Tintan the Dog” in the capital of Oaxaca state; “Tina the Chicken,” in Tepic, capital of neighboring Nayarit state; “Maya the Cat” in Puebla.  But none of the campaigns for these nominees are as cleverly organized, or as popular as those of Morris the Cat.  “He sleeps all day and does nothing, that fits the profile of a politician,” says Chamorro.  

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