Santa Claus is running against Sarah Palin for a seat in congress.
Yes, you read that correctly. Santa Claus (his legal name) has entered the race for Alaska's only congressional seat. Claus, who changed his name from Tom O'Connor in 2005, is a Bernie Sanders fan and set to shake up the race.
A primary race will be held on 11 June in an effort to fill the seat of Republican Don Young, 88, who died last month.
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Two people hot in the mix for the race are Claus and Palin, and we're actually thinking of heading to Alaska to see how this one pans out.
Incase you think Claus' entry into the race is a joke, he won a city council seat in 2015 and has been heralded as 'a bastion of blue on a city council as red as Rudolph’s nose'.
So, what doe Claus support? Free healthcare for all, racial justice, and corporate accountability.
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Trust Santa to get the job done right, and he's banking on his iconic name for some extra election mileage.
"That’s what’s given me the opportunity here," Claus said of his name, adding that the ranked-choice voting system 'gives people with name recognition such as yours truly, and even Sarah, for that matter, a slight advantage'.
Ranked-choice voting is where voters mark their candidates in a sequence of first, second, and sometimes third on their ballot cards.
This means that those with well-known names sometimes have an advantage, as voters are quicker to recognise them on the ballot sheet.
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However, Claus has said he didn't always bear the name of the jolly man from the North Pole.
"Seventy-four years ago, I didn’t pop out with a beard."
But, the councilman is driven by the same desire to help others, with his career in law enforcement spurring his want to support the young people he saw falling 'through the cracks'.
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So, how did Claus come to change his name? Well, as The Guardian reports, the congressional hopeful was praying for guidance one day when someone shouted 'Santa, I love you' at him.
With his beard already grown, Claus thought: "That’s about as fast an answer to your prayer as I’d probably ever get."
"So next day, I called up the county clerk to change my name legally."
Then, the councilman set off on a whistle-stop tour of the states, not delivering presents but greeting officials in an effort to advocate for child welfare.
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And who doesn't love Santa?
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Shola Lee