Jasiel Correia, the Teflon Mayor of Fall River, Just Did the Impossible

Under indictment for fraud, he was recalled and re-elected in the same night.

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In this Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016 photo newly elected Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia reviews grid maps of the city’s downtown at his city hall office in Fall River, Mass. Correia, 24, is the youngest Fall River mayor to ever serve. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

This guy is untouchable.

In one of the most impressive local political feats in recent memory, Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia, the 27-year-old Democrat under federal indictment for fraud, last night was both recalled and re-elected at the same time.

Correia has come under intense scrutiny since he was arrested in October and charged with nine counts of wire fraud and four counts of tax fraud in connection with his company SnoOwl. He is accused of misleading investors and pocketing more than $230,000 of the funds they contributed to the company, spending it on, among other things, a fancy car and adult entertainment.

This week, he faced his most significant challenge yet, as voters took to the polls to decide whether to recall him, and, on the same ballot, to pick one of five candidates they wanted to take his place. Sixty percent chose to remove him from office, and then, by a margin of 241 votes, voters named Correia mayor once again. He’ll be back on the ballot in November for the city’s next regularly scheduled election.

“I am honestly overwhelmed and everyone in the room knows I’m usually not speechless,” he said after his victory, per Fall River’s Herald News. “Today I am speechless.” He later told WBZ he was “going to keep trying to earn people’s votes, earn their trust, earn their votes by doing good things for our community, like you’ve seen us do.”

Correia has captured statewide attention since 2015, when at 23 he became the youngest mayor in Massachusetts history. Before that, he stoked controversy as a Fall River City Council member when he accused then-mayor William Flanagan—who was also facing the threat of a recall—of threatening him with a gun.

Charismatic, unorthodox, and clearly not lacking in confidence, Correia’s political strategy has continued to surprise. Unhappy with the Herald News’ coverage of him, Correia admitted that last year he created a website targeting one of its reporters, featuring a meme of Donald Trump declaring, “You are fake news.” While campaigning for his re-election, he shared a photo of himself posing with a baby goat.

Back in October, when the corruption scandal broke, Correia called a press conference and media swarmed, most assuming he would announce his resignation. But no! He instead gave a lengthy defense of his company and app, complete with a slideshow presentation, and insisted he would hang on to the bitter end. Looks like he’s making good on that pledge.

His story is so compelling a production company is rumored to be exploring a documentary about his political career (which Correia has not confirmed). Gonna go out on a limb here: It would be good.

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