Who doesn't love Santa? The residents of a Fairbanks suburb sure seem to.
Congrats. "Santa Claus elected to North Pole city council" http://t.co/YtBBn4JdFh pic.twitter.com/oHC2kxNLFv
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) October 14, 2015
According to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, voters in the 2,200-person town of North Pole supported the man whose legal name is Santa Claus (he changed it from Thomas Patrick O'Conner.) He won a write-in campaign for an open seat on the six-person Council.
Dressed in red velvet like a real Father Christmas, he launched his campaigning just 14 days prior to the election and managed to land a majority of 58 votes.
The two open positions on the Council had attracted no official candidates. Alongside Santa, Elyse Dawson, a youth pastor at the town's Assembly of God church, also won a seat by write-in.
Santa Claus elected to North Pole City Council http://t.co/mSaEtOCS6G pic.twitter.com/WgHNq7u4DV
— Jeff Kleinman (@jeffkleinman) October 14, 2015
North Pole City Clerk Kathy Weber said she was relieved that people came forward to take the seats, as the North Pole City Council has recently seen shortage of candidates.
"It was a godsend," she said. "I'm really happy with the candidates we did get. I think Santa Claus and Elyse Dawson will be great," concluded Weber.
It's not the first time Santa has served as a public figure in North Pole; he previously served as president of the town's Chamber of Commerce.
