His flavour? Strawberry kiwi. His goal? To break through to the hearts of young voters.
B.C. comedian Danny Nunes is running to be the next mayor of Terrace 鈥� dressed in a red Kool-Aid Man costume.
鈥淩ather than break through walls we鈥檙e gonna break through your hearts,鈥� the 35-year old said, holding a sign that reads 鈥淥h Yeah!鈥� while campaigning on Lazelle Avenue last weekend.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to be a Hallmark card, by the way.鈥�
Nunes chose the Kool-Aid man as a satirical nod to his idol, Andy Kaufman.
鈥淚 am sure you have heard the phrase, 鈥榙on鈥檛 drink the Kool-Aid鈥� during elections or about political parties,鈥� he wrote.
Nunes runs a video production business in Kitimat called Matthew Mask Productions, producing comedy sketches and generating revenue through advertisements and sponsorships. His Dare To Be Stupid Show has gained an audience of close to 200,000 subscribers and has been featured on Canadian and American media channels, including Much Music, The Comedy Network, and G4TV.
His has received over 3,000 views since it was posted on July 19. Nunes said he hopes his run will attract a younger demographic to the polls this October.
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鈥淚t鈥檚 an emphasis on trying to get young people out to the polls to vote, and try and get the voter turnout in Terrace up a little bit higher than usual,鈥� he said.
| Danny Nunes |
Since his announcement, Nunes has been popping into several events downtown, talking with residents while dressed head to toe like a gigantic jug of juice 鈥� an approach, he hopes, will bring a new outlook on this election cycle.
鈥淲e find that a lot of local issues here don鈥檛 come to the forefront because it seems like the voter demographic is very skewed for an older audience, so we have a giant mascot Kool-Aid Man costume,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a unique way of telling people there鈥檚 an election coming up. How do you get young people to turn out to the polls? This is how you do it. Through Kool-Aid.鈥�
Though he is new to campaigning in Terrace, this isn鈥檛 the first time Nunes has made a run for the mayor鈥檚 seat. In 2011 he ran for the mayor of neighbouring Kitimat, where he still lives, and despite his slogan 鈥淒on鈥檛 Vote for Danny,鈥� he received 3.5 per cent of the vote 鈥� that鈥檚 100 people checking off his name at the ballot box.
So what happens if he wins?
鈥淚 would probably weep in the corner in a fetal position wondering 鈥榳hy did you vote for me?鈥欌�� Nunes said with a laugh.
Terrace Mayor Carol Leclerc said she first saw Nunes in the Kool-Aid man costume when she was getting coffee downtown and didn鈥檛 make the connection at first.
鈥淚t seemed a bit of a satire is what it seemed like, but yeah, if Danny wants to put his name forward, he should put his name forward,鈥� Leclerc said over the phone, mentioning that she believes it鈥檚 important to get more of the electorate out to the polls.
鈥滻 think that we definitely need more voters to come out.鈥�
Elected as Terrace鈥檚 first female mayor in 2014, Leclerc said she is ready to put her name back into the race.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great job to be the mayor when you鈥檙e passionate about your community, you鈥檝e got the time to put in for your community, you want to hear what people鈥檚 interests are and try to do good things for your community. Why wouldn鈥檛 you run for mayor?鈥�
Whether Terrace is ready for the Kool-Aid man or not, Nunes officially made his decision public outside City Hall as he picked up his nomination papers on July 27. He said he鈥檚 also looking into whether he can run to be the mayor of Kitimat at the same time and has a meeting scheduled with Elections BC next week to go over the details.
brittany@terracestandard.com
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