{"id":163652,"date":"2026-02-21T09:01:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T09:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/163652\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T09:01:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T09:01:32","slug":"eckerd-students-to-elect-their-first-pet-president-in-close-race-on-friday-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/163652\/","title":{"rendered":"Eckerd students to elect their first pet president in close race on Friday | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eckerd students will elect their very first pet president on Friday, and results will be announced at the ECOS town hall Feb. 23 in Fox Hall at 6:30 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With elections just a hop, skip and a jump away, Eckerd is buzzing with emails, posters, tablings, and hollers across the sidewalk for pet presidential campaigns. Last week, a call was put out for pets of high morals, regal and diplomatic pets willing to bravely serve the Eckerd community for the 2026-2027 school year. The pet could be any species. They just have to be registered and present next school year. Who will win? It\u2019s im-pawssible to predict!<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so excited to start this tradition to highlight all of the adorable pets on our campus,\u201d said ECOS President Emma Kelliher, senior political science and literature major. \u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t one of the most pet friendly campuses in the country have a pet president?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inspired by local pet mayor<\/a> elections, Triton Publications, ECOS and Pet Life joined forces to form a new Eckerd tradition to precede ECOS executive elections: Pet President. The main duties of this position consist of being loved by campus and boosting morale at school events. Fifteen students signed up their pet to run, representing nine different species, and it looks like it\u2019s going to be a close race.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s meet our candidates:<\/p>\n

[Candidates are listed in order of declared candidacy. Declared political parties do not necessarily reflect the values of human political parties.]<\/p>\n

Shrimp Nation<\/p>\n

Shrimp<\/p>\n

Political party: Independent\u00a0<\/p>\n

Owner: Maryanna Di Somma<\/p>\n

Fun fact: It\u2019s blue\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Thor and Hercules<\/p>\n

Cockatiels<\/p>\n

Political party: The Birdicrats<\/p>\n

Owner: Sara Coyne\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fun fact: They sing songs of our nation\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Franklin<\/p>\n

Teddy Bear Hamster<\/p>\n

Political party: Democrats<\/p>\n

Owner: Brooklynne Case<\/p>\n

Fun fact: He loves to travel and fly on airplanes<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s small but mighty. He knows what the pet community needs, and he\u2019s very cute,\u201d said Case.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0122<\/p>\n

Taylor<\/p>\n

Betta Fish<\/p>\n

Political party: Independent<\/p>\n

Owner: Julianna Keane<\/p>\n

Fun fact: His name comes from Taylor Swift who wore a dress called the \u201cbetta fish dress\u201d on the Eras Tour that matched his colors perfectly.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loves people and is a very active little guy. He also loves to play and typically has at least one toy in his tank at all times,\u201d said Keane.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Nellie<\/p>\n

Quaker Parakeet<\/p>\n

Political party: Democats<\/p>\n

Owner: Lydia Cox<\/p>\n

Fun fact: Nellie’s favorite snack is Mott’s applesauce. He will go as far to take a pouch out of your hands just to get some!<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s outspoken (he loves to talk, he will play peek-a-boo and ask to step up), BUT he will also listen to you. In the end, he’s just a big softy who loves to cuddle,\u201d said Cox.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Marley May<\/p>\n

Lynx point cat<\/p>\n

Political party: Democats<\/p>\n

Owner: Lilly Howe<\/p>\n

Fun fact: He doesn\u2019t like any other human food besides cheese.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarley would make a great pet president because in any room or public space he enters, he already is running the show and acts like he’s in charge. He will listen to you, but sometimes he will purposely ignore you,\u201d said Howe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Tano<\/p>\n

Poodle<\/p>\n

Political party: The Pawgressives<\/p>\n

Owner: Katie Lee<\/p>\n

Fun fact: She is a mom of seven.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTano is very friendly and always willing to give free cuddles, but she will take the needs of the animals and humans on campus seriously,\u201d said Lee.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Scooter JonQuantavius III<\/p>\n

Bearded dragon<\/p>\n

Political party: Reptile party (democrats)<\/p>\n

Owner: Izzy Williams<\/p>\n

Fun fact: \u201cHillary Clinton is his biological mother (she\u2019s a lizard person),\u201d wrote Williams.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Koshka<\/p>\n

Brown tabby cat<\/p>\n

Political party: Coalition of underappreciated pets\u00a0<\/p>\n

Owner: Damien Dowling<\/p>\n

Fun fact: She loves sunbathing and napping.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo pet left behind! Fighting for the forgotten and underappreciated pets with no parks, events or group chats,\u201d said Dowling.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Yoshi<\/p>\n

Black cat<\/p>\n

Political party: Yoshi does not affiliate with a political party. He is running for the pets, not the people.<\/p>\n

Owner: Rose Irwin<\/p>\n

Fun fact: You can see Yoshi patrolling around the Kappa backyard by the skate ramp, keeping an eye on his community and rolling in the catnip plant.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Bun Bun<\/p>\n

Holland lop<\/p>\n

Political party: Democats<\/p>\n

Owner: Grace Holl<\/p>\n

Fun fact: She knows how to lift a grate, gets in and out of a duct system smoothly and loves to do binkies.<\/p>\n

\u201cBun Bun would be a good president for Eckerd because she will stand up for the rights of vegetables by providing excellent fertilizer for the compost, and advocate for the environmental quality of a healthy land. As well as being a good judge of character by thumping if there is disapproval,\u201d said Holl.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Gabby<\/p>\n

Calico cat<\/p>\n

Political party: Democats<\/p>\n

Owner: Ava Wozniak<\/p>\n

Fun fact: She is very friendly and loves catnip.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Beau<\/p>\n

Schnoodle<\/p>\n

Political party: Repuplicans<\/p>\n

Owner: Gabriella Levy<\/p>\n

Fun fact: He loves to wear sweaters and go for walks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Honey<\/p>\n

Golden retriever<\/p>\n

Political party: Honey is a democat and wants to increase equity for all!<\/p>\n

Owner: Naomi Herbst\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fun fact: Honey is a failed service dog with selective hearing! She loves peanut butter and butt scratches!<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Panko<\/p>\n

Bunny<\/p>\n

Political party: Fluffypendents<\/p>\n

Owner: Abigail Christman\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fun fact: Panko knows tricks!<\/p>\n

Voting begins 9 a.m. Friday and will close at 5 p.m. It will be conducted via Google Form sent to the Eckerd student body.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI also hope this tradition gets more students engaged and excited for ECOS elections coming up in March,\u201d said Kelliher. \u201cMaybe from this election, one pet owner gains the courage to run for ECOS!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eckerd students will elect their very first pet president on Friday, and results will be announced at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[115,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-163652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-news","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}