Hank the Cat Runs for U.S. Senate

There's a new candidate in the race for the U.S. Senate seat in Virginia. Republican George Allen and Democrat Tim Kaine, will have to scratch and claw with another rival in the heated race, as independent Hank the Cat has thrown his collar into the ring.

The Springfield, Va. cat’s Senate campaign has become an online sensation. The cat’s owner, 36-year-old Anthony Roberts, says the “Hank for Senate” website has been jammed following a recent spate of publicity.

According to his campaign website, Hank is an “energetic, inspiring, and real” candidate, and unlike so many other political frontrunners, he wasn’t born with a “silver spoon.”

The nine-year-old cat was rescued by Animal Allies, a volunteer organization based in Fairfax Station, Va. His campaign has been publicized on his website, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Roberts said he and his partner, 34-year-old Matthew O’Leary, started the campaign as an inside joke. But he now relishes the opportunity to use Hank to mock the political status quo.