Panel Voids Mayoral Victory of ‘Tomato King’
The “Tomato King,” a migrant who became a millionaire farmer in the U.S. tomato business and returned home to win the mayor’s race of his tiny Mexican town, has been dethroned before assuming his post.
A Mexican federal electoral commission overturned Andres Bermudez’s victory, saying he had not been a legal resident of the city for a full year before the election. It cited documents showing that in November 2000, Bermudez had sworn under oath to be a resident of Sacramento.
Bermudez, 51, the first U.S. resident to win a Mexican mayoral post under new dual nationality rules, defeated four other candidates in Jerez, in the central state of Zacatecas.
The commission said that it had named an alternative candidate to take his place.
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