Four-year-old Robert ‘Bobby’ Tufts thrives as mayor of small Minnesota town

What were you doing when you were four years old?

Probably not the same things as Robert "Bobby" Tufts, mayor of Dorset, Minnesota.

In the tiny Minnesota tourist town, where the population is less than 30, the position of mayor is up for grabs each year at its Taste of Dorset Festival in August.

Votes cost $1, and the winner's name is drawn from a ballot box by the previous year's mayor.

Next month, Bobby will draw the name of the next mayor. Because he's in the running again, the young "Mr. Mayor" could be drawing his own.

"He's been pretty good. Lotta PR for the town," his mother, Emma Tufts, 34, told the Associated Press. "I think he's doing a fine job."

Bobby's primary job as mayor of the small tourist town is to greet visitors, often while wearing his signature black fedora decorated with fishing lures.

He recently led a group of children and adults on a hike to raise money for charity.

His other major accomplishment this year? He put ice cream at the top of the town's food pyramid.

"Chocolate. And vanilla. Strawberry. Cotton candy kind. And rainbow sherbet," Bobby listed as his favourite flavours.

The young, energetic mayor has plenty of fans — including the cops.

"I think he's a cute little bugger and I think a lot of people share the same, you know, opinion as me, and it's neat," Hubbard County Sheriff Cory Aukes told the Associated Press. "You know, how often do you see a little kid like that who's — call 'em camera-friendly or whatever, you know — he's got a very good little personality, and he's not afraid to show it. So I think it's great."

Even if Bobby isn't "re-elected" as mayor, he has another milestone to look forward to: kindergarten.