--- title: Santa Claus Elected to North Pole City Council description: A man named Santa Claus was elected to city council in North Pole, Alaska canonical: https://time.com/4075742/santa-claus-city-council-north-pole/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-15T20:47:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:26:03.235Z og:title: North Pole Elects Santa Claus to City Council og:description: Seriously. og:url: https://time.com/4075742/santa-claus-city-council-north-pole/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4dbdc356a67fa9e/69886890ab6d77dff06a6b32/santa-claus1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 467217935 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: North Pole Elects Santa Claus to City Council twitter:description: Seriously. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4dbdc356a67fa9e/69886890ab6d77dff06a6b32/santa-claus1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # North Pole Elects Santa Claus to City Council by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 15, 2015 8:47 PM UTC  Santa Claus on a snowy roadway Santa Claus on a snowy roadwayGetty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 15, 2015 8:47 PM UTC A guy named Santa Claus is North Pole, Alaska’s newest city council member. Seriously. We can’t make this up. Claus, who was born Thomas Patrick O’Connor but legally changed his name in 2005, was elected to a three-year term on the North Pole city council, according to _USA Today_. Like jolly old Saint Nick, Alaska’s Claus too enjoys bringing smiles to the faces of children. In fact, it was a holiday job performing as as Santa Claus that led him to grow a long white beard and eventually change his name. According to _USA Today_, Claus is no stranger to local politics either—he once served as the president of the local Chamber of Commerce. Claus also hopes to bring Christmas cheer to the council all year by sharing messages of giving and love while in office. You can’t help but wonder, though, if those in town on the naughty list are worried. \[[_USA Today_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/10/15/santa-claus-elected-city-council-north-pole/73997022/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4075742/santa-claus-city-council-north-pole/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4075742/santa-claus-city-council-north-pole/"},"headline":"North Pole Elects Santa Claus to City Council","datePublished":"2015-10-15T20:47:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:26:03.235Z","description":"No, really","url":"https://time.com/4075742/santa-claus-city-council-north-pole/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Alaska","viral","santa claus","Holidays"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4dbdc356a67fa9e/69886890ab6d77dff06a6b32/santa-claus1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4dbdc356a67fa9e/69886890ab6d77dff06a6b32/santa-claus1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"467217935","caption":"467217935","creditText":"Getty Images","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/4075742/santa-claus-city-council-north-pole/","name":"North Pole Elects Santa Claus to City Council"}}]}] ```