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Inside the dramatic, multi-million dollar race for NYC dog mayor

NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) – Everything was going smoothly in New York City’s honorary dog mayor election until Ziggy the Yorkie mix and Bertram the Pomeranian matched up.

Just before the polls closed, a “gigantic bomb of votes hit Twitter” for Bertram, a retired dog influencer known for his Paddington bear costume. Then, the voter fraud allegations came.

“I don’t recognize the results of this election,” wrote a constituent on Instagram. 

It was not fraud but rather a “globally dispersed” online crypto community that had made Bertram the face of their new coin, giving him an unexpected boost in support. Bertram’s owner, Kathy Grayson, has no idea why. 

On Nov. 4, Bertram will take on Enzo the Shih Tzu in the final of 15 voting rounds in the dog mayor election. Mirroring the city's fraught “human” political arena, the dog mayor election has taken on a new life with the rehoming of a shelter dog and holding million-dollar implications, according to its creator, Stephen Calabria. 

The scent of corruption entered New York City’s canine political world even before Ziggy’s elimination. Weeks earlier, Calabria had to recount the results of a race between Mr. Tobi the Terrier and Pepper the Mini Daschund after he determined bots had swarmed the social media ballot box.

“You have not seen fervor until you’ve seen the way people feel about their favorite dog,” Calabria said. “If most people were as passionate about human politics that these people are about dog politics, we’d have an economy running at 55% growth.”

Calabria turned to expert consultants at SurveyMonkey to ensure the voting process was fair in the following rounds.

The first election in 2022 was less tumultuous, leading to the selection of the city’s first honorary dog mayor, Sally Long Dog. Initially created as a light-hearted break from the negativity of human politics, the dog mayor election has become a complex community, said Calabria, who used to work in politics.

“It’s synced up to the human political calendar,” Calabria said. “It’s specifically designed for people who, on the one hand, want to get away from politics, who are so tired of it. And then, on the other hand, it can also be for people who want to feel good about politics.”

Take, for example, a great upset in the race between Squiggles, the adoptable pit mix, and Kaido, a mini Australian Shepherd known on social media for howling out of his owner’s backpack on New York City street corners. 

“I paired Kaido against whoever the adoptable was going to be not because I figured this would even be close, but because with Kaido’s huge following… that gives [Squiggles] the most exposure,” Calabria said. “As it turned out, New Yorkers love an underdog, and it was not that close. Kaido lost.”

Squiggles would go on to lose the election, but he ultimately got adopted from Animal Care Centers of New York City

“I don’t know if the dog mayor election played a role in Squiggles getting adopted,” Calabria said. “[But] it did reveal that this project moved something in people … This has proven that it has real-world implications; this is not just some cute little surface-level thing on Instagram.” 

Sitting Mayor Sally Long Dog has made a real impact during her tenure, visiting group therapy sessions as a therapy dog. Finalist Enzo, who has over 92,000 followers on Instagram, has helped his owner through her mental health journey.

"Enzo has saved me in many ways," his owner, Olivia Caputo, said on Instagram. "Every time I show up here on our Instagram, I think about other people like me. ... And most importantly, I think about how if I can share Enzo’s love far and wide, he can make a difference in other people’s lives too."

And now, thanks to Bertram’s crypto significance, “serious” money is involved in the election. 

Bertram the Pomeranian is moving on to the final round of the dog mayor election next week. (PIX11 News)

Bertram vs. Ziggy: The million-dollar race

The value of Bert’s crypto coin hit $3 million at one point. And the first set of crypto votes came in from Turkey – less than a week after Mayor Eric Adams’ historic indictment alleging he took bribes from Turkish officials. 

“You could say that the introduction of financial interests on the part of candidates and their supporters kind of cheapens the whole thing… but the vast majority of folks still find this to be a joyful and fun and worthwhile endeavor without politics' normal levels of human corruption,” Calabria said. “If I was to now invest in Bert coin, that would be corruption.”

Bert and Ziggy’s race was a perfect firestorm of emotion. Ziggy had amassed a huge following on his heartwarming story as an older rescue. 

“He’s 11 years old, and he’s a rescue, and he garnered this huge, intense, rabid following,” Calabria said. “Ziggy, for his followers, came to represent hope, love, and promise.”

Bert’s crypto following loves his adoption story. His owner found him on Petfinder.com and picked him up in Oklahoma. 

“These are actually real people in a thousand-person group chat who are all, like, driving up the value of Bert coin,” Grayson said. “They’re really nice; they’ve made all kinds of AI videos of Bert doing stuff …. They’re making drawings of him. They’re having an excellent time.”

For Grayson, the dog mayor election is a way to reach human voters before a highly consequential election

Inspired by his mother’s legacy, Calabria hopes to expand the election and increase its tangible impact on the city: “It just feels good to vote for someone you actually would want to have in your home."

Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter who has covered New York City since 2023 after reporting in Los Angeles for years. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here.

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