FARGO - North Dakota State University had an unusual candidate in its student senate election last week.

Professor X, a 6-year-old black cat rescued from Homeward Animal Shelter in October, collected about 50 write-in votes in the April 8-9 student elections.

Professor X's press secretary, sophomore management communication major Jacob Lynch, who is a member of the student senate, said the campaign wasn't just for laughs.

"I kind of viewed the cat as a way to get people out to vote because you can't just write-in the cat, you have to have an informed opinion on constitutional amendments and things like that," Lynch said.

Lynch and his roommates, Brady Laurin, Zach Beaton and Zach Amundson, started the Facebook page and launched the campaign April 7, a day before the election.

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Unfortunately for Professor X, he wasn't eligible to take a seat on the senate because he is not an NDSU student.

According to the student newspaper, The Spectrum, the cat garnered the second most write-in votes and with just five candidates on the ballot and 11 spots, Professor X would have been a senator.

Lynch said the feedback from the campaign has been positive and his fellow student government officials got a good laugh out of the cat's run for office.

Lynch said he was unsure if Professor X's political ambitions will go beyond his senate run.

"He hasn't expressed any interest in anything recently," Lynch said. "He did acquire a Twitter account after the whole senate ordeal to promote both cat's rights ... campus activities and to give shoutouts to different organizations."