Democracy going to the dogs: Great Pyrenees elected mayor of MN town

Sweet mother of dragons!

Bend the knee to "Khaleesi," the brand-new mayor of Cormorant Township, a community of a little over 1,400 in western Minnesota.

Khaleesi Sherbrooke, named after Emilia Clarke's dragon queen in HBO's "Game of Thrones," was inaugurated Saturday at the 13th Annual Cormorant Daze Festival.

She's only the town's second mayor and, believe it or not, its second Great Pyrenees to hold the office. Its first mayor, Duke, was elected in 2015 and served until his retirement in 2018, passing away the next year, USA Today writes.

The publication says Khaleesi won some 103,000 votes — far outstripping the size of the local population, as the election was open to anyone and everyone online. And they spoke decisively, with the 3-year-old dog taking 76.5% of the vote.

Before you start worrying that Khaleesi might torch the pillars of democracy with a hardline pro-chew toy policy, don't worry; USA Today says the honorary mayor's duties will include representing Cormorant at local functions, participating in parades and other events, and raising funds for the humane society (like her predecessor before her).

This marks the town's first election since Duke died, as the COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on local elections for a few years.

No word on whether Khaleesi is a Democrat or a Republican, but she follows a long tradition of non-human mayoral candidates, a list of which you can check out on Wikipedia.