We’re in an off-year for elections — meaning no presidential or midterms — but that doesn’t mean the races taking place are any less consequential. New Jersey and Virginia notably have elections for governor this year, NYC’s mayoral race is picking up national attention, and up in Massachusetts the citizens of Somerville put their collective paws down when someone tried to assume an office willy nilly without a free and fair election. Earlier this year, three-year-old shorthair Berry of the TabbyCat Party issued a statement through her person/press agent Mallory Bissett that she would henceforth be the official Bike Path Mayor of Sommerville’s Community Path. That’s all political opponent Orange Cat had to hear before declaring, “By John Adams, it’s up to me to run against her!” before quickly deploying her person to litter the path with Orange Cat campaign posters (paid for by the catalyst party). And before you could say “pass me the catnip” there were over 70 candidates in the race, primarily but not exclusively feline. At last the votes have been tallied and we have a winner: announcing Mayor Minerva!
On Sunday, Sept. 14, residents of the small town learned which of their four-legged denizens would rule over the Somerville Community Path as the “Bike Path Mayor.” What started as an inside joke among neighbors evolved into a full-blown art installation, featuring dozens of campaign signs for the over 70 pet candidates — mostly cats, a couple of dogs, and a few other pets — lining the area near the bike path.
The sitting mayor, a 3-year-old shorthair indoor-outdoor cat named Berry who enjoys hanging out near the bike path, was appointed the humorous role by his owner, Mallory Bissett, back in July. The move led other local pet owners to jokingly contest that their pets deserved a shot at the title as well.
From this lighthearted local feud sprang an intense, viral mayoral race that caught the attention of the nation. According to NBC10, after a little over two weeks of voting on over 70 candidates, Minerva the cat came out the winner. Minerva stood out from other feline candidates with her one-word campaign slogan: “Crime.”
“Minerva’s platform of crime, I think, really resonated with people,” said one Somervillian to the Boston Globe. “Minerva’s platform inspired someone to steal Minerva’s sign and also steal the QR code voting sign, right before the last day of the election.”
Minerva’s owner, Daniel Abraham, shared a brief statement at the unveiling of the sign proclaiming Minerva the winner of the Bike Path Mayor race.
“Minerva asked me to say one thing on her behalf and only one thing: Crime,” said Abraham, as he stuck a sticker of the winning cat to the sign in front of a cheering crowd.
PEOPLE reached out to Somerville’s mayor, Katjana Ballantyne, during the race, and she shared her early endorsement for Berry.
“Berry does have my endorsement as a proven leader deafening our bike path values. I also admire her approach to rat control,” said Ballantyne at the time. “This race has been absolutely purr-fect for our community, capturing our creativity and community spirit. Nothing brings people together like debating whether Puzzle’s platform calling for more catnaps is fiscally responsible.”
PEOPLE has reached out to Ballantyne for her reaction to the final results of the election.
Other kitty candidates who went up against Minerva include Pirate, who led a “More Kibble For All” campaign, and Puzzle, who advocated for cat naps for all.
Sticking to a one-word platform was risky, but judging from the steely verging on hostile stare in her official campaign portrait, very little rattles Minerva. Her gaze is so threatening, in fact, it seems no one dared to ask for the clarification if she was pro or anti crime. I suspect we’ll never know. I’m just glad that the people of Somerville called out a wannabe-queen dictator — her slogan was “Make Cats Outside Again” for cat’s sake! — by demanding that the full democratic process play out. Frankly, I think human mayor Katjana Ballantyne owes her citizens an explanation for why she so easily endorsed such a compromised candidate. Berry even had the nerve to put up some signs that said “Re-Elect Berry,” when the whole controversy was that she’d never been elected in the first place!
In conclusion, I think newly-elected Mayor Minerva’s person/campaign manager Daniel Abraham said it best: “90 candidates, over 6,000 votes, all for what is effectively a community art project to remind us that democracy is important.” Hear, hear! And to that I’ll add that elections have consequences!
