Terran Woolley of Hutchinson, Kansas, entered his hairy little pal in the race for the state's top official after reading about six teenagers who filed for the gubernatorial race last year when they discovered that there were no state statutes dictating candidate qualifications, the Kansas City Star reported.
"Officially, we will not allow a dog to run for governor," said Bryan Caskey, director of elections for the Kansas secretary of state's office on Tuesday. "There's several laws that reference that the governor has to be an individual or a person, and so we are relying on that, and if a dog comes in to file for office, we will not allow that."
"I feel that maybe the secretary of state is scared of facing him in the primary or in the general election, I guess, since Angus is a Democrat," Woolley said jokingly on Tuesday. He also said that Angus is "a caring, nurturing individual who cares about the best for humanity and all creatures, other than squirrels."
Last September, when the teenagers filed for governor, Caskey was asked by The Star would would happen if a dog hypothetically tried to run for governor.
"I'm not sure how to answer that," Caskey said at the time. "Because I cannot point to a law that sets any qualifications to run for governor. So a dog has never tried to file — I don't know what would happen if one tried to…. I can't point you to a law that says anything about the qualifications to run for governor."
Kansas lawmakers are currently considering a bill to outline qualifications for gubernatorial candidates. A plan for the requirements would stipulate that applicants to be human and at least 18 years old. However, since the bill is not retroactive, it cannot impact this year's election.
"I'm glad, I guess, a dog wasn't allowed onto the ballot because that just… makes no sense," said Republican Rep. Blake Carpenter of Derby, who introduced the bill.