17. The Corruption Scandal That Got a Rhinoceros Elected
In 1959, Sao Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city, was reeling under a series of scandals. Corruption was rampant, garbage went uncollected, sewers overflowed, inflation was rising, and supplies of basic foodstuffs were dwindling. As City Council elections neared that October, voters had to choose from amongst 540 candidates, ranging from the uninspiring to the outright criminal. Faced with such dismal options, some students decided: “Better elect a rhinoceros than an ass“. Their candidate of choice was a 5-year-old female black rhinoceros named Cacareco, residing in the local zoo.
Cacareco charged to first place and won in a landslide, garnering over 100,000 votes – 15% of the total cast. As The New York Times reported, she “earned one of the highest totals for a local candidate in Brazil’s recent history“. It was actually the highest-ever total won by any city council candidate up to that date. A sore loser party leader complained bitterly: “A ridiculous vote for a ridiculous rhinoceros. Nowhere, and never before, have 100,000 literate adult voters cast their ballots for a silent, absent, and nut-brained quadruped“. One of the failed candidates was so humiliated, that he committed suicide.
