© Associated PressDuke becomes mayor again.
Duke became a mayor of Cormorant, population 1,000, two years ago. He defeated Richard Sherbrook, the owner of a local store, through write-in votes. Duke was 7 at the time and can now boast of being the first mayor in the US to have taken office at such a young age.
The dog won his third election in a row, held Saturday during the 6th Annual Cormorant Daze Festival. Duke attended the event wearing a patriotic star-spangled bandanna around his neck and a small black top hat.
I don't know who would run against him, because he's done such great things for the community," Cormorant resident Karen Nelson told Detroit Lakes Online.
The four-legged reluctant politician reportedly has one of the highest approval ratings in the country, and humans in Cormorant believe that his election was foreordained. According to the dog's owner, David Rick, everybody in town voted for the snow-white pooch, "except for one vote for his girlfriend, Lassie."
Duke was unavailable for an interview, but his spokeshuman said he's fully prepared to take office for his third term.
For many years, I have always assumed that "honest politician" was an oxymoron. Apparently, I was wrong, as Duke demonstrates.
However, I remain convinced that (unless there are other dogs (or cats, monkey,, etc.) also holding elective office somewhere) Duke is probably the only honest politician in the entire country.