One of Austin’s newest elected officials has four paws, a snaggle tooth and a passion for playing ball.
Pug-Chihuahua mix Mo Bamba won the race for mayor of 37th Street near Hyde Park. The dog was inaugurated in a ceremony last week after organizers finished tallying more than 12,000 ballots cast in the election.
“Only in America could a little puppy born on the border with parvo make it all the way to becoming mayor of 37th Street,” said Spencer Schumacher, Mo Bamba’s campaign manager, in his acceptance speech.
This is the fourth year that neighbors, who also organize 37th Street Lights, have held a pet mayoral election alongside the holiday display. The election started as a way to increase voter engagement in Austin’s human mayoral race in 2022, said organizer Maddy Braat.
“There was a runoff, and it was going on at the same time as the opening of the lights,” she said. “We were like, oh, we should have our own election to plant the seed.”
An orange cat named Dragon became the first mayor. Then there was Zapp, another orange cat and “pawgressive” owned by Braat, who served two terms before being narrowly defeated by Mo Bamba last week. Several other cats and a stuffed animal were also in the running.
“The cats have dominated the street in a form of tyranny that we have not seen in this country, that was frankly anti-democratic, and [Mo Bamba] broke that glass ceiling,” Schumacher said.
Mo Bamba’s parents, Spencer and Erin Schumacher, got him as a puppy from a rescue in Round Rock. He’s named after the song “Mo Bamba” by Sheck Wes, which is also named after the former UT basketball player. He’s now 3 years old and spends time playing fetch in his yard, which made him a high-visibility candidate for the Austinites who visited 37th Street Lights this winter, Spencer said.
The historic nature of the election made it particularly heated. Campaign posters plastered the street, and voter turnout was more than double the previous election's, Braat said. The ballot counting process was also contentious; Mo Bamba faced multiple allegations of voter fraud, which his campaign denied. In the end, organizers certified the results, and Zapp conceded.
“It has been a pleasure to serve as your mayor for the past two years, and I look forward to my retirement, where I will be sleeping on the porch for 12 to 18 hours at a time,” Braat, speaking for Zapp, said on inauguration night.
37th Street mayor isn’t just a symbolic role. Braat said the mayor has several responsibilities, from walking around to talking to constituents.
“There's looking at birds, looking at owls, looking at squirrels, sometimes even mice. And that takes up a lot of time of the 37th Street mayor historically,” she said. “But more than anything, I think what all mayors wanna do is keep Christmas lights free forever.”
Mo Bamba has a concrete plan for improving the street, starting with installing fire hydrants at every house and giving government contracts to people who play fetch.
“He wants to fight for the people,” Spencer said. “His slogan is, he won't just fight for you, he will bark at you.”
Mo Bamba also has a message for Austinites about the upcoming human elections.
“Please go vote. Use your democratic right and vote for the candidate that you believe is best,” Erin said.
The deadline to register to vote in the March 3 primary election in Texas is Feb. 2. You can find more information about important election dates on the Texas secretary of state’s website.
