Stubbs, the feline mayor of an Alaska town since 1997, passed away on Thursday, ending a 20-year term that started with a surprise election win when he was less than a year old.
The mayor passed away in his sleep during the night, according to a statement from his owners, KTUU reported.
Stubbs was elected mayor during a write-in campaign when residents opposed all of the human candidates, according to UPI. Or so the story goes.
According to NPR, the town has no real mayor, so there could not have been an election.
He quickly became an international celebrity, receiving piles of cards from admirers around the world. Some 30 to 40 tourists came to visit him every day, even 20 years after the “election.”
Stubbs the Cat Rick Fogerty / Flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0 / https://www.flickr.com/photos/rick-fogerty/18818366469/in/photostream/
