STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. The mayor of Sun Prairie, Wis., suffered the final indignity. First, a Groundhog Day ceremony went wrong. A groundhog bit the mayor's ear. Video of that incident was seen hundreds of thousands of times. Mayor Jonathan Freund tried to keep his cool and even publicly pardoned the rodent. But Internet fame did not translate into votes. This week, the mayor lost a primary election to keep his job, finishing third in a field of three. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.