Mexico elects governors – historic transfer of power possible China sends clear warning to US

A year before the presidential elections, important regional elections have started in Mexico. In total, about 15 million voters are called to re-elect the governors of the states of Mexico and Coahuila on Sunday. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has ruled both without interruption for 94 years.

In the state of México, which borders the capital and is the most populous of the Latin American country’s 32 regions, polls show leftist nationalist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Morena party is expected to win against an opposition alliance. With that, Morena (Movimiento Regeneración Nacional – National Renewal Movement) would consolidate its role as the favorite in the presidential elections on June 2, 2024. According to the constitution, the popular López Obrador cannot stand for re-election – Morena’s candidate has not yet been determined.

For the opposition parties, it is a test of whether they can join forces to oppose the national ruling party. The PRI, which ruled Mexico in an authoritarian manner from 1929 to 2000, would lose a historic stronghold in the state of Mexico if defeated. About 13.5 percent of Mexico’s approximately 126 million residents live in the region. Both candidates are women – the winner becomes the state’s first female governor.

In contrast, in northern Mexico’s smaller Coahuila, the joint candidate of the PRI and other parties led the polls. Local members of parliament are also elected there. (sda/dpa)