His name is Santa Claus. He lives, of course, at the North Pole – a city of about 2,000 in Alaska. He has a long white beard and a polite manner and Santa Claus is indeed his legal name, although, as a supporter of Bernie Sanders, he does not take advantage of the work of elves. It won a city council seat in 2015, to the delight of observers around the world. Now he is ready to take his political career to the next stage. He is running to end the term of longtime Republican MP Don Yang, who died last month at the age of 88. A special qualifier will be held on June 11. Santa Claus is running to complete the term of longtime Republican MP Don Yang. Photo: Courtesy of Santa Claus As for Claus’s policy: they call him “a blue stronghold in a town council red as Rudolf’s nose.” He says voters looking at Sanders’ political platform may have a very good idea of his own, including support for Medicare for All, racial justice, corporate responsibility and free and fair elections. This includes the ranking ballot, which will be presented in the second round of the upcoming elections. “That gave me the opportunity here,” he said. The ranking vote “gives people with a name recognition, like yours, and even Sarah, for that matter, a small advantage.” But Claus did not always have that name. “Seventy-four years ago, I did not go out with a beard,” he says. In fact, Claus changed his name from Tom O’Connor in 2005. He was living in Lake Tahoe, Nevada at the time, and was thinking about what to do with his life, as Julia O’Malley wrote in a profile. of the Guardian in 2015. He had previously worked in law enforcement, where he had seen children fall “through the cracks” of the foster care system and wanted to do everything he could to help them, he told the Anchorage Daily News in 2020. he had already grown a beard, and as he was praying for guidance, someone in a nearby car shouted, “Santa Claus, I love you!” “This is about as fast a response to your prayer as I would ever get,” Claus told the Guardian. “So the next day, I called the county clerk to change my name legally.” It caused some headaches, including a brief suspicion of airport security, where he suffered “once upon a time”. “Someone about a month later sent an email, I guess informing people, yes, there is this guy Santa Claus who will fly around. Not necessarily on my sleigh, but using regular means of transportation. “ Despite his name, greeting children at Christmas is not his. “I’m not really interested in that,” he says. “There are many of my favorite assistants around the world who have supported me with their personal visits.” Instead, he says, “I tend to interact more with adults when it comes to legislation.” To that end, shortly after the name change, he embarked on a tour of each state, meeting with governors, officials and lawmakers to support the children’s well-being, he told the Daily News. On this tour he met his future rival for the seat of Congress – and despite the political divide between them, she made a good impression. Santa Claus, as expected, lives in the North Pole of Alaska – a city of about 2,000 inhabitants. Photo: Courtesy of Santa Claus “Sarah Palin was one of the governors I visited,” he says. “We met very soon, but she had arranged a meeting with six of the different heads of its departments, which was very unusual for a governor. “So I was grateful,” she said, adding that Palin was “very good, very helpful to me.” As for their disagreements, Klaus, who has not declared party membership, is a diplomat. “Now that he’s backed by Trump,” he says with a laugh, “let me put it this way: as a Bernie supporter, we have different views on different issues.” He continues: “I do not intend to be pressured by her or by Trump. So he can have some interesting moments during the race “, for which he says that he does not ask for or accept donations. “As a candidate, as a legislator, I tend to look for common ground. There are people I disagree with and people who disagree with me. “But there is always common ground and someone is willing to make the effort to find it and then legislate for the greater good.” Elections to Congress will determine who completes Don Yang’s term, which ends in January. If Santa Claus wins, he has no plans to be re-elected. “I think there should be people two or three years younger than me who are empowered and doing the best they can to help their communities and their states. For some positive change, I would like to do my little part. “Besides, I think it would be a bit of fun. Alaska is known for the kind of characters up here. “I would definitely be fine in this tradition.”
