Overview:
What's got four legs and a wagging tail? Niwot's new mayor, Onyx, the sheepadoodle, who was elected in a playful local election.
As Colorado voters brace for another midterm election cycle filled with budgets, regulations and political noise, the town of Niwot has already made its choice, and it went with a six-year-old sheepadoodle named Onyx.
The dog’s victory came during a lighthearted, community-run election in Niwot, an unincorporated town in Boulder County located between Boulder and Longmont, over the summer. Without a formal municipal government, Niwot’s mayoral role is largely symbolic.
“That’s so Niwot,” said Eliza Eastland, a barista at The Old Oak Coffee House, after finding out about Mayor Onyx. “The idea of us electing a dog as a mayor is just something so cute in community centers. It makes so much sense for Niwot because we love doing silly, dumb stuff like that.”
Onyx resides at Niwot Jewelry & Gifts, where constituents are able to meet her in person. She works at the store with her dad, Jason Scarbrough, who also serves as her spokesperson and campaign manager.Â
The goals Onyx has for 2026 are simple. “Make sure that the streets are clean, everybody has their leash on and everybody gets a treat,” Scarbrough said.
Electing Onyx was not a typical process. “Our little town doesn’t have any formal government, so it was fun to run a little fun campaign with Onyx,” Scarbrough said. “She had lots of visitors. We had a website set up and QR codes so people could vote for her. It went really well.”
Onyx ran unopposed in 2025, which Scarbrough confessed meant the election may have been “sort of rigged.” Still, he said the response reflected how eager the community was to embrace something joyful and communal.
Niwot has a tradition of informally assigning civic roles to beloved local animals. Scarbrough recalled a cat that once roamed the neighborhood near the jewelry store, regularly moving between homes and businesses.
“There was a feed store directly across from our jewelry store and they had been there for decades,” Scarbrough said. “They had a cat that would sort of wander through town and she would move in with people and spend a couple days here and there. We always referred to the cat as the mayor of Niwot because she just sort of had her hands on everything. The feed store closed and obviously the cat went with them.”
After the Niwot Rental & Feed store closed in 2022, Onyx and Scarbrough saw an opportunity to fill the role Niwot had been missing. “We’ve been in need of a mayor,” Scarbrough said.
Onyx, who is in town nearly every day and keeps regular “office hours” at the jewelry store, seemed like a natural successor. Since her election, visitors have stopped by specifically to meet her.
“They’re looking for Miss Mayor,” Scarbrough said. “She’s always either at the front door or she’ll hop up behind our counter and greet people as they come up to talk to us.”
A sheepdog by breed and disposition, Onyx is often found staring out the store’s front window, keeping watch over Second Avenue. Scarbrough jokes that she’s protecting the business from wolves because “we haven’t had a wolf attack in the jewelry store in the six years that she’s been there.”
“She loves everybody,” Scarbrough adds. “We laugh that she would get in the car and leave with anybody that asked her to go. She’s just sort of friends with everybody.”
That friendliness has translated well to her ceremonial duties. Since being elected, Onyx has made several public appearances, including serving as grand marshal of Niwot’s inaugural Dog Days of Summer event, where she judged contests and awarded the Mayor’s Choice prize. She also marched in the town’s holiday parade.
For Scarbrough, Mayor Onyx represents the spirit of Niwot itself. “It’s sort of a rare thing these days as a small town surrounded by big towns, but everybody knows each other and there’s familiar faces everywhere you go,” he said. “We don’t need a big government. Everybody gets along; we manage together and everyone’s met with a tail wag.”
Mayor Onyx can be met in person during her regular office hours, most weekdays, at Niwot Jewelry & Gifts on Second Avenue. She will also be in attendance at Let’s Wine About Winter, on Feb. 21 in Downtown Niwot.