In a result that has garnered international interest due to the victor’s unconventional forenames, exit polls indicate that Hitler Mussolini Simeon Flores has won the mayoral election in Queropalca, a remote district located in the Peruvian Andes.
Running as a candidate for the centre-left Ahora Nación party, the 45-year-old secured a narrow victory. Data from Peru’s electoral office reveals that approximately 229 residents voted in his favor, edging out the second-place contender from the right-wing Renovación Popular Perú party by just 25 votes.
Despite representing a municipality with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, the election has attracted significant global media coverage because Flores shares his first two names with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, two of the most infamous dictators of 20th-century European totalitarian regimes. Local outlet Peru21 described the candidacy as a “striking event” given the notoriety associated with those figures.
Electoral records show that slightly over 700 people participated in the voting process, with Simeon capturing roughly 34% of the total ballots cast. According to his official candidate profile, he was born in Queropalca, situated in the central department of Huánuco, approximately 360 kilometers (224 miles) from the capital, Lima.
Local observers noted that while unusual, Flores is not the first resident of the region to hold public office with a name linked to historical authoritarian leaders. In 2018, Hitler Guesclin Alba Sánchez was elected mayor of Yúngar after defeating rival Lenin Vladimir Rodríguez Valverde, having campaigned under the slogan “I’m the good Hitler.” Similar international attention was previously directed toward a Namibian politician named Adolf Hitler Uunona, who won local elections in 2020.
History repeating itself in the most literal, unintentional way possible. I hope he focuses on infrastructure and stays away from the aesthetics.
The real story here is that the voter turnout was barely higher than his margin of victory. Democracy in the mountains is quirky!