Mulas – Corrales, New Mexico
How many times have you heard an elected official referred to as a “jackass?” In the village of Corrales, that term could conceivably not be used as a pejorative. Every year during the last weekend of the Corrales Harvest Festival, a pet mayor is named. If the newly elected mayor is unable to fulfill his or her duties, a pet mayor pro tem is named to assume the duties of the mayoral office. Corrales has long prided itself on being a paragon of democratic values and inclusivity though the winning candidate is usually a dog or a horse. In 2022, the winning candidate was a peacock and in 2020, it was Chip, a five month old miniature donkey. Unlike human elections in which the legitimacy of campaign fund sources (and how those funds are used) is often in question, pet mayor elections are based on a tally of dollar-ballots cast for each. Votes are one dollar each with ballot boxes available throughout the village. Nor will you find candidates bad-mouthing one another or railing against fake media coverage. Campaign slogans tend to be more friendly, too. In 2021, for example, Jewel, a Standard Poodle’s slogan was “The world needs…