Jorge Hank Rhon, the former Tijuana mayor who’s on the verge of a loss in his run for governor of Baja California, was profiled yesterday by the Los Angeles Times and Associated Press.

Particular attention was paid to a tequila brewed especially for Hank.

The Times’ Richard Marosi reports:

[T]his famously eccentric businessman can’t help attracting controversial headlines.

He offers reporters drinks of his favorite tequila, custom-brewed by a Chinese-Mexican restaurateur and fermented with rattlesnake hides and penises of lions and tigers, which the father of 19 swears makes him virile.

The Associated Press was equally fascinated by his drink of choice:

Jorge Hank Rhon brags about drinking tequila mixed with bear bile and steeped with the penises of tigers, lions and dogs. He has weathered allegations of ties to drug trafficking, money laundering and murder-for-hire.

But none of that seemed to matter to his supporters as the self-proclaimed billionaire dog-track owner and Tijuana mayor closed his campaign for governor of Mexico’s Baja California state this week.

The virility doesn’t seem to be helping Hank at the ballot boxes. CNN reported this afternoon that Hank is trailing opponent Jose Guadalupe Osuna 50 percent to 43 percent with 90 percent of the ballots counted.

ROB DAVIS

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