Halifax: Ellen DeGeneres supports feline candidate






Residents of Halifax, Nova Scotia have a new reason to be proud. The often ignored provincial capital recently got some attention from TV host Ellen DeGeneres.  During her opening monologue on last Tuesday's episode of her popular talk show DeGeneres mentioned Halifax and its upcoming mayoral race. The host even went so far as to personally endorse one of the candidates.

On October 16th Ellen talked about Tuxedo Stan, one of the candidates running to become mayor of Halifax. The show also featured a photo of the political phenom. Now to be fair Stan isn’t your ordinary candidate, in fact his recent bid for office has been eliciting a great deal of media attention.  Before entering the political arena Stan spent more time in his litter pan than contemplating municipal affairs. Tuxedo Stan is a different breed of politician, you see Stan is a cat.

The aptly named black and white feline not only earned a shout out from Ellen but the well known animal rights activist threw out her own personal endorsement of his campaign, saying, “I don't like to get political — but I would vote for that cat.”

DeGeneres isn’t the only celebrity supporter rooting for Tuxedo Stan. Several weeks ago CNN reporter and talk show host Anderson Cooper endorsed the feline on his show AC360.          

Stan is campaigning on a platform which aims to ‘improve the welfare of felines in the Halifax Municipal Region’. His motto is “a chicken in every pot and a litter box in every house.” With his own  Twitter account Tuxedo Stan continues gaining supporters and fans alike.

Politically speaking Tuxedo Stan may be an underdog (pardon the pun) in terms of his chances of actually winning the election but he’s already succeeded in doing something his fellow human candidates couldn’t. He’s drawn a lot of much needed attention to the problem of cat overpopulation and the importance of spay and neuter programs. His campaign has also generated a great deal of interest in local municipal politics as well as promoting the city of Halifax on the international stage.

It’s interesting to note that Tuxedo Stan isn’t the first cat who has ever ran for mayor. 2012 marks the 15th anniversary of a cat named Stubbs becoming honorary mayor of Talkeetne, a town in Alaska.


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