BY KELLY MCGRATH
Who would have guessed a mutt from the streets of Dallas, Texas, would become New York City’s next honorary dog mayor? Not Sophie Vershbow, the owner of New York City mayor-elect Simon, the basset/cattle dog.
“I can’t believe that we won, not only because there were so many amazing dogs running,” Vershbow said, “but because we were eliminated in the semi-final round.”
The New York City honorary dog election began last July with 16 canine-dites, and week by week dogs were voted out in a ‘March-Madness’ bracket style series of eliminations. Finally, it was down to the final two, Bertram the Pomeranian, backed by an online community of crypto investors, and Enzo the Shih-Tzu.
Simon was originally eliminated four weeks ago until Enzo unexpectedly dropped out of the race, putting Simon back in the running. Enzo’s owner, Olivia Caputo, claims that the election was unfair due to Bertram’s intense crypto following and that the NYC dog election’s founder, Stephen Calabria, was unsupportive when Enzo’s account was flooded with hateful messages from investors in $BertCoin, a crypto-currency created in the likeness of Bertram.
Following Enzo’s departure from the race, the election was postponed one week and Calabria brought in Mosheh A.Y., ‘official canine lawyer’, and election integrity and public-policy advocate to monitor votes to ensure a fair election.
Election results were delayed further due to the sheer number of bots that were detected voting for Bertram. A manual recount of over 22,000 votes would have been required to get a more accurate number and because of this, Bertram’s owner, Kathy Grayson, chose to concede the race to Simon.
Simon’s owner, Vershbow admits she was far more emotional than she anticipated when she found out Simon won.
“So many people were disappointed when he lost to Enzo,” said Vershbow the day Simon was announced as the winner, “I was thrilled to get a second chance to bring home a win for them, especially after the emotional turmoil of the past week.”
“This has been the best distraction,” said voter and NYC resident, Lacey Pascoe. “This election cycle has been such a nightmare. It’s great to have something fun and uplifting.”
The purpose of the NYC Dog Mayor is to lighten the mood and serve as a beacon of positivity for NYC residents but Vershbow doesn’t intend to stop there.
“The focus of Simon’s term will be about animal rescue,” said Vershbow. “I’d like to partner with organizations like Animal Care Centers of New York and Hearts and Bones to promote adoption, spay/neutering, fostering, and so much more.”
Vershbow also said that this is an excellent opportunity to get involved and draw more attention to the 2025 human mayoral election and to, “encourage more than 21% of New Yorkers to vote this time around.”
Vershbow and Calabria intend to work together to expand the role of Dog Mayor and even fill an entire cabinet of different canine positions.
Bertram was named Deputy Dog Mayor but unfortunately, passed away suddenly in his sleep last Tuesday. The official NYC Dog Mayor Election took to Instagram to express its condolences. It has yet to announce what this means for the offices of the dog mayor but for now, “we grieve the loss of our dear friend, public servant, and pawlitical pioneer.”