Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI) sent out a bizarre fundraising call to action for his supporters on Friday, headlined, "the furries are coming for me."
"I'd heard of furries, but to be honest, I didn't think they were real. Then one filed to run against me for Congress," stated the email. "Samuel Smeltzer, whose furry name is Elyon Badger, announced he's running against me, in costume, on a far left progressive platform."
"Never seen a fundraising appeal quite like this one," wrote Axios' Andrew Solender on X.
The campaign page of Smeltzer, which advertises him under his "fursona," introduces him as "a Michigan Army National Guard veteran, LGBTQIA+ activist, and small business owner running to represent Michigan’s 7th District in Congress. I’ve experienced the failings of our system firsthand and I’m running to build a government that finally works for the people, NOT THE BILLIONAIRES."
The furry community is known for creating anthropomorphic animal avatars of themselves, which they perform in often elaborate and expensive fursuits. The community is not inherently sexual, but there is a not-safe-for-work and sexualized subculture within it that has gotten them labeled as deviants in some conservative political circles.
In particular, there has been a persistent myth, often promoted by GOP lawmakers, that schools around the country have provided litter boxes to students who "identify as animals" to do their business in class. While it is unclear where this myth started, there is one documented case of a school district in Colorado providing cat litter in kits — not to help students satisfy a kink, but as emergency supplies in case a mass shooter forces them to barricade in classrooms for extended periods of time.
