Michigan Furry Brings Honey Badger Energy — and Medicare for All — to His Fight for a Seat in the U.S. Congress
Elyon Badger’s unconventional primary campaign combines fursuit activism with serious progressivism
Elyon Badger doesn't look anything like how one expects a candidate for office to look. Often clad in marijuana-themed attire or a honey badger fursuit, Badger — alias Samuel Smeltzer — is running for the Democratic primary for Michigan's 7th Congressional District, which encompasses both the state capital of Lansing and arch-conservative Livingston County. His campaign may rely heavily on humor, but he takes the issues very seriously.
Badger isn’t a candidate who has been dreaming of running for office since childhood — he explains he was motivated to run for office after spending "too much" time "yapping" on social media about ways to improve the country. A 14-year Lansing area resident and former Michigan Army National Guard who runs an IT security company, Badger says he had grown tired of "voting for people that aren't making things better." If he wanted something done right, he figured he'd have to do it himself.
After the incumbent Republican for the 7th U.S. District Tom Barrett voted for Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," including support for healthcare program cuts, Badger protested outside his office. Inspired by what he sees as a growing grassroots movement in favor of universal healthcare, he decided to run for Barrett's seat on a platform of Medicare for All, to ensure no one goes bankrupt from medical bills. “I'm in the fight for healthcare,” he says.
Badger also advocates for comprehensive progressive policies including criminal justice reform, climate action and workers' rights. He describes himself as a democratic socialist, inspired by Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose message "resonated with so many voters." When asked to define democratic socialism, he says, "It's about us collectively voting on what's best for everyone — not just for a couple people who own everything."
Yes, Badger is a furry, a connection inseparable from his politics and one that adds urgency to his campaign. He describes the furry subculture dedicated to anthropomorphic animals as "a wide group of people that basically create their own mascots. My mascot is the honey badger. I kind of feel that honey badger energy within me." The honey badger is a carnivorous mammal living in Africa, the Middle East and India. Due to its combative disposition, it has few predators. He contrasts his animal mascot with that of the Republicans ("old, never gonna die, and never forgetting their racism") and leading Democrats ("Jackasses").
"The reason I'm leaning into the furry side of things is the Heritage Foundation has targeted the furry community," Badger explains. "They're going after the queer spaces and organizations where we are allowed to express creative freedom." Indeed, a 2011 study found that the vast majority of furries are somewhere within the queer community.
Various sectors of the American right spread falsehoods about schools providing litter boxes to furry students, a claim Equality Michigan derided as "delusional transphobic antics." In both 2023 and 2024, Motor City Furry Con, held annually in metro Detroit, was forced to temporarily evacuate after bomb threats. In 2025, Republican legislators in Texas introduced the FURRIES (Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education) Act, banning "any non-human behavior" or roleplaying in public schools. Lawyers have argued the proposed law would unnecessarily infringe on students' free speech rights, while school Dungeons and Dragons clubs in Texas fear the overly broad statute could ban their hobby.
Badger is also a strong and vocal proponent of marijuana legalization and an opponent of the so-called war on drugs. "I was personally driving my friends to the polls the whole day," he says, referring to efforts to pass Proposal 1 in 2018, which legalized marijuana in Michigan. What does he think of President Trump's recent musings about rescheduling marijuana to a lesser drug category at the federal level? "Anything to distract from the Epstein files."
When it comes to LGBTQ+ issues, for Badger, it's personal — he is part of the queer community and wrote a Pride Month article in June for the Lansing City Pulse on what that means to him. He wrote, "There's such a loving acceptance for being different in the LGBTQ+ community, which reminds me that nobody can take my whimsy or my hope, and the world just might need our silly now more than ever." He feels the Democratic party needs to do more to defend LGBTQ+ rights. He is unafraid to say "Trans rights are human rights," while many Democrats seem to be running away from the issue.
The candidate has special animus for the Heritage Foundation and its Project 2025. He emphasizes the role of Michigan's conservative Hillsdale College in planning the initiative, noting that Larry P. Arnn serves as both president of the college and as a trustee of the Heritage Foundation. Badger describes Arnn as a "shadow person" who is "fucking up our America."
An activist candidate, Badger has appeared at Michigan protests such as No Kings Day and Hands Off Protests both to show his opposition to government policy and to plug his campaign. He attended a Medicaid Town Hall that Tom Barrett declined to attend. He describes the reactions he's gotten at protests and county Democratic party meetings as "wildly positive."
To win the Democratic primary, Badger will have to defeat five other candidates in the competitive race. His opponents include Bridget Brink, former ambassador to Ukraine and Slovakia; Michigan State University Professor Dave Cowen; Muhammad Salman Rais, a physician; tenants rights activist and co-founder of the Sunrise Movement William Lawrence; and Matt Maasdam, a former U.S. Navy SEAL and aide to President Obama.
Although lagging far behind his opponents' fundraising in the primary, Badger feels his social media presence helps him better connect with voters. His Instagram has 13,500 followers. One of his TikToks from last April explaining why "billionaires shouldn't exist" has nearly three million views.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is taking Badger's candidacy as seriously as that of his primary opponents. They have included him in attacks on the Democrats' supposed "war on ICE" and their alleged "Open Borders Agenda." Potential voters have been much more positive. When campaigning at Pride, protests and other events, he says people see his outfits and run up to ask for a photo. They often ask, "You're running for Congress like this?"
To a friend and supporter who asked to use the pseudonym "Saguaro," Badger represents a new kind of political candidate. "A future with Tom Barrett, or any candidate satisfied with the status quo, is one not needed to fix this country. We need someone like Elyon who truly has the heart required to change things for the better."
Saguaro is particularly impressed by Badger's support for a Medicare for All-style single payer healthcare program. "He believes strongly in the need for all people to have free access to the healthcare that they so desperately need."
Another supporter, Nicholas Adams, echoes Saguaro's sentiments. "I strongly believe Elyon is the seed of change we need in the moldy political world. The country needs a new face and somebody willing to be progressive." Adams is also strongly in favor of the candidate's plan for healthcare. "How are we expected to work when we are constantly in fear of going bankrupt from getting sick, injured or even getting our teeth cleaned?"
The Financial Times recently reported that Americans are seeing the highest cost increases for healthcare in 15 years, making the issue likely important to voters in 2026.
Elyon Badger's candidacy is certainly a long shot. He will not only have to defeat his well-funded primary opponents, but also an incumbent in a district that spans diverse political territory. Yet, in politics strange things happen and anything is possible.
It might be time for a candidate who literally "has some real teeth" to sit on Capitol Hill. "People want to see something different in Congress, and as silly as I may be, I'm deadly serious when it comes to the policies I want to enact," he concludes. "I think that we need to mix a little bit of the absurdism with the seriousness, because these are deeply serious yet unserious times."
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