Cats and dogs: A fuzzy antidote to your election anxiety.
One of the most contentious and nail-biting election campaigns in the Bay Area is at its peak right now. But it’s probably not the one you’re thinking about.
Written content from Kellie Hwang | SF Chronicle
This mayoral race features at least four contenders: Wally, Betty, Mimi and Macy. They are well known in the neighborhood, friendly with everyone they meet. They each want the best for their community in North Oakland.
And none of them are human.
These adorable cats and dogs are running to be the mayor of 55th Street in Oakland’s Golden Gate neighborhood.
It all started when a rather official-looking red, white and blue campaign sign popped up in the front yard of a property on 55th and Marshall streets reading: “Re-elect Wally for Mayor of 55th Street” at the top, and “Paid for by the Wally for Mayor 2020 PAC” at the bottom. In the center is a photo of a fluffy orange and white feline.
The sign’s creator, Heather La Mastro, said Wally doesn’t have an official owner. He showed up on her block just west of San Pablo Avenue about four or five years ago, and she and her neighbors all started feeding him. So he stuck around.
“We all love him and take care of him,” she said. “He’s a free spirit who goes everywhere and explores everything … We’ve been lovingly referring to him as the mayor of 55th Street.”
When the coronavirus shutdown began in March, La Mastro said even more people were out and about, and Wally was very friendly with everyone. And as election season progressed, she said, “We needed a break and relief from the chaos of the (presidential) election. I thought it would be a cute idea to officially launch his campaign.
”Heather La Mastro holds Wally the neighborhood cat as he roams around a home along 55th Street in Oakland, Calif. Thursday, October 22, 2020. Wally is the incumbent candidate in the race for Mayor of 55th Street in Oakland which consists of three other furry friends running for the seat.
Inspired by a 2014 campaign to elect her friend’s dog, Einstein, mayor of Oakland, La Mastro created Wally’s campaign sign about a month ago and put it out front. There’s even an official hashtag: #Wally4Mayor.
“It’s gotten really good reactions,” she said. “People tell me they find it really hilarious.”
Rachel Kadner, who lives on 55th Street between Gaskill and Lowell, was walking her 6-year-old pit bull mix, Macy, and noticed the sign. She took a photo and sent it to her neighbor, Kirstyn Russell, who has a 10-year-old tabby cat named Betty. Kadner joked that Betty has some competition.
Russell said she didn’t know Wally, and wondered why Wally thinks he’s mayor of 55th Street. So she and her wife jumped in the race, creating their own campaign sign with the slogan “Change Meow.”
“With COVID and people at home, it’s just sort of a stressful situation and the election cycle being really tough,” she said. “Politics feel really negative, so we thought it would be fun to add some humor into the situation. We made postcards for Betty, and walked around the neighborhood and put them in mailboxes to make it more grassroots.”
Soon Macy joined the race, and another friend and neighbor, Mary Owen, entered her 11-year-old Shiba Inu, Mimi.
“Not that I’m competitive, but I thought, ‘You know, Mimi’s cute, everybody knows her, it can’t just be cats,’” Owen said. “This is Oakland — we accept everybody.”
Owen put up a sign with the slogan: “She’ll bark when it matters!” Read more from SF Chronicle
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