According to King5.com, Hank, the cat who ran for the U.S. Senate, lost his bid to represent Virginia, but the feline netted more than 6,000 votes. The feline’s name did not appear on the actual ballot, and received his votes as a write-in.
The $16,000 he received for campaign donations all went to the Old Dominion’s animal rescue groups.
“Tonight we won,” the feline wrote on his Hank for Senate Facebook page. “We didn’t win the senate seat, but because of my campaign design, because of this platform idea that we implemented successfully and painlessly as an example to all other campaigns out there: the idea to make real, genuine change in our community by donating all of our funds to animal rescue groups — because of this, we already won.
“As a citizen of Virginia, I feel it is now my duty to redouble my efforts to make sure Senator-elect Kaine is willing to sign my Animal Rescue Pledge, and I hope you will join me in making sure animals aren’t ignored or forgotten.”
The Maine Coon cat ran as an Independent and his platform promoted jobs, animal rescue/spay and neuter programs, and positive campaign reform.
Hank was born in September 2003; as a kitten, he and his family were spared euthanasia at the last minute by the Animal Allies rescue group in Fairfax, Va. The cat’s owner, Anthony Roberts, started the campaign as a joke, but it soon took on a life of its own.
Hank ran against former Virginia Governors Tim Kaine (D) and George Allen (R), who received 1,913,899 and 1,737,486 votes, respectively, in the final tally.
