Long-Serving Dog Mayor Of Small Village Passes Away Just Months After Retiring

We already know that all dogs are amazing, but sometimes they do something totally unexpected, such as eating a whole wheel of cheese, or achieving political office.

A gorgeous big doggy called Duke made national headlines back in 2014, when he was elected to be ceremonial Mayor of Cormorant Village, a small township in Minnesota with a population of around 1,000 people. He won the election with just 12 write-in votes, and personally, I can’t think of anyone who would be a more worthy Mayor for the town. Just looks at that friendly face!

Everyone around town knew and loved Duke – so much so that he went on to be re-elected FOUR times, before retiring last year due to health issues.

Sadly, those health issues finally got the better of Duke, and after years of making the whole town smile, he sadly passed away this week, at the grand old age of 13.

The big friendly Great Pyrenees was 13 years old when he died Thursday. He had made headlines for being elected the dog mayor of Cormorant Village several years ago, during the annual “Cormarant Daze” festivals, a report said.

Karen Nelson, his human mom, confirmed the sad news of Facebook, and posted some amazing photos of Duke after the he passed. She spoke beautifully on his life, and what he had meant to the local community over all these years.

“Our beloved mayor Duke went to doggie heaven today. He will be greatly missed,” Nelson wrote in her post. “We will have a memorial for him in (M)arch or April at the Cormorant town hall. Thanks to all who express their condolences it means a lot of hard times like this.”

Duke was elected to the mayor’s seat of Cormorant Township four times since 2014, acting as the village’s ambassador to the public, North Dakota-Minnesota radio station KFGO reported. Cormorant Village is about 40 miles east of Fargo, N.D.

Duke became quite the celebrity when his first inauguration was covered in 2014. Tammy Odegaard, an event organizer and member of Duke’s staff, told CBS Minnesota at the time that they wanted to “have him put his little paw on the Bible” while taking the oath of office for the first time.

Sure enough, that came to pass, and the town held a swearing-in ceremony for Duke once he was elected.

“You are about to embark upon a great time of service, and tremendous personal and professional growth,” Steve Sorenson, chairman of Cormorant Township, told Duke at the 2014 inauguration ceremony.

“If you accept this challenge and these responsibilities, please bark or pant,” he said. Duke duly panted, and the rest was history.

As a dog person, it makes me genuinely sad to hear stories like this. In fact, my eyes have been welling up as I wrote this article. But still, that sadness is far outweighed by the happiness he must have brought to his local community on a daily basis. This is the reason that our canine friends are so special and deserve so much of our love.

Rest in peace, Mayor Duke. You will be sorely missed.

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