Jul 062010
 

The results of the 4 July 2010 elections in 12 of Mexico’s 32 states do not suggest any important new national trends.  The PRI, Partido Revolucionario Insititucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party; magenta on map) won nine of the 12 governorships, but held nine governorships before the election.

State politics, 2010

Mexico's state governorships, 2010. All rights reserved. Click to enlarge.

The most interesting aspect of the election was that the two other main parties, the right-center PAN, Partido Acción Nacional (National Action Party; blue on map) and the leftist PRD, Partido de la Revolución Democrática (Party of the Democratic Revolution; green on map) ran coalition candidates for governor in five states and were victorious in three.   Click here for a list of the winning candidates.

Three states with current PRI governors (Sinaloa, Puebla and Oaxaca) will have new governors from the PAN-PRD coalition. The current PAN governors in Aguascalientes and Tlaxcala, as well as the PRD governor of Zacatecas, will be replaced by new PRI governors.

Though all the results are not yet available, it appears that PRI has maintained its majorities in the state legislatures and the municipal mayor positions contested.  The only exceptions appear to be in Sinaloa, where PAN-PRD won ten mayoral races compared to eight for PRI.  In Chiapas, UPC, Unidos por Chiapas (United for Chiapas) dominated the elections for the state legislature and mayors.

The results of this election and the 2009 election suggest that PRI will be in a better position for the 2012 Presidential election than they were for the 2006 Presidential election, when they did not win even a single state.  Whether they have enough popularity to recapture the Presidency in 2012 remains to be seen.

Perhaps after 2012, Mexico’s north-south political divide will be less marked.

Chapter 12 of Geo-Mexico: the geography and dynamics of modern Mexico takes a close look at Mexico’s political patterns. Buy your copy today, so you have a handy guide to the “back story” behind Mexico’s current affairs.

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