There’s something fishy in Ann Arbor politics. It’s not the local politicians, but a 20-pound carp that has just launched a write-in campaign to join the City Council.
The carp first came to the public’s attention when the giant fish was pulled from a pond in Ann Arbor’s West Park back in November 2012 for being “destructive.” A Twitter feed attributed to the bottom-feeder was launched soon after.
Now it appears that the fish has learned a lesson about his civic responsibility and has launched a write-in crusade for city council, inspiring fans across the city, which is home to the University of Michigan, with his social media savvy.
Fall leaves aren’t the only signs of change in the Fourth Ward, dude. pic.twitter.com/0Bm8UCtX1D
— Twenty Pound Carp (@TwentyPoundCarp) November 2, 2013
Like many candidates, the aptly-named fish is running based on a perceived need for change. Unlike some two-legged candidates, though, the fish hopes to “aggressively return Ann Arbor to its Golden Age, viz. 1837,” before developers were “allowed to run amok.” If elected, the carp envisions a future where “Main Street will be lined with shanties and low doggeries, the tanneries and sawmills on the river will thrum once more.” To make his vision a reality, the Twenty-Pound Carp is looking to his forebears for inspiration and cautionary tales:
Would Millard Fillmore have bitten a dog? I asked rhetorically. That man was a mediocrity of the first water and look where he ended up.
— Twenty Pound Carp (@TwentyPoundCarp) November 4, 2013
The carp is aware of his status as an outside candidate with a slippery record as a bottom feeder and is addressing his critics head on:
“Elevated Discourse from a Bottom Feeder” is the name of the game, my fellow citizens.
— Twenty Pound Carp (@TwentyPoundCarp) October 28, 2013
The Twenty-Pound Carp has been focusing his campaigning on the city’s fourth ward, where Democrat Jack Eaton is the sole candidate on the ballot. For his part, Eaton doesn’t mind the competition. “I’m amused,” Eaton told MLive.com. “I have a sense of humor and I think it’s funny. I consider a 20-pound carp to be a substantial opponent and I wish him the best.”
The polls open tomorrow and the carp is doing what he can to encourage voter turnout:
Man. Just a reminder when you’re like voter 28 at 7pm on November 5: it’s spelled T-W-E-N-T-Y P-O-U-N-D C-A-R-P.
— Twenty Pound Carp (@TwentyPoundCarp) October 24, 2013
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