--- title: This 3-Year-Old Mayor Has Already Nailed His New Job description: James Tufts is the youngest-ever mayor to be chosen in the Minnesota town canonical: https://time.com/3992499/3-year-old-mayor-minnesota/ author: Tanya Basu article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-11T17:00:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:23:16.789Z og:title: This 3-Year-Old Mayor Has Already Nailed His New Job og:description: His leadership mantra? "Being nice and no poopy talk" og:url: https://time.com/3992499/3-year-old-mayor-minnesota/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaee36280725d7d77/69885eb95f570f7776b1cdbc/bobbytufts_boymayor_dorset.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Bobby Tufts the Boy Mayor og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This 3-Year-Old Mayor Has Already Nailed His New Job twitter:description: His leadership mantra? "Being nice and no poopy talk" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaee36280725d7d77/69885eb95f570f7776b1cdbc/bobbytufts_boymayor_dorset.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This 3-Year-Old Mayor Has Already Nailed His New Job  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Aug 11, 2015 5:00 PM UTC  Bobby Tufts, Dorset's previous mayor, poses before starting the Ronald McDonald fundraising walk in June 26, 2013 at Dorset, Minn. Bobby Tufts, Dorset's previous mayor, poses before starting the Ronald McDonald fundraising walk in June 26, 2013 at Dorset, Minn.Jeff Baenen—AP  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Aug 11, 2015 5:00 PM UTC James Tufts is just like many 3-year-olds: He tussles with his older brother. He loves to chat up strangers. He’s also got a side gig as the newest—and youngest-ever—[mayor of Dorset, Minn](http://www.today.com/parents/3-year-old-james-tufts-becomes-dorset-minnesotas-newest-mayor-t37976). The spunky tot’s name was drawn from a hat at the annual Taste of Dorset food festival to serve as a ceremonial head of the tiny northern Minnesota town of 22 people. James has some big little footsteps to follow: His older brother, Robert, was the previous youngest mayor of Dorset. Robert, now 6, served two consecutive terms as mayor while he was 3 and 4\. He was two days older than James when he was “elected,” and has become instrumental to James’ political image. “He doesn’t do too much mean stuff, and I taught him how to be nice,” Robert said of his brother. Robert used his time in office to raise money for the Salvation Army and the Ronald McDonald House; James is going to spend the year fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. James, for his part, has figured out exactly what makes for a good leader: “Being nice and no poopy talk.” \[[_Today_](http://www.today.com/parents/3-year-old-james-tufts-becomes-dorset-minnesotas-newest-mayor-t37976)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3992499/3-year-old-mayor-minnesota/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3992499/3-year-old-mayor-minnesota/"},"headline":"This 3-Year-Old Mayor Has Already Nailed His New Job","datePublished":"2015-08-11T17:00:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:23:16.789Z","description":"\"Being nice and no poopy talk\"","url":"https://time.com/3992499/3-year-old-mayor-minnesota/","keywords":["Newsfeed","U.S.","Minnesota","People","local"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaee36280725d7d77/69885eb95f570f7776b1cdbc/bobbytufts_boymayor_dorset.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanya Basu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaee36280725d7d77/69885eb95f570f7776b1cdbc/bobbytufts_boymayor_dorset.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bobby Tufts the Boy Mayor","caption":"Bobby Tufts the Boy Mayor","creditText":"Jeff Baenen—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3992499/3-year-old-mayor-minnesota/","name":"This 3-Year-Old Mayor Has Already Nailed His New Job"}}]}] ```