PRI recognizes victory of MORENA in the State of Mexico

Delfina Gómez

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) recognized this Sunday (06.04.2023) the electoral victory of the group of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the State of Mexico, the most populous in the country and a historical bastion that has ruled uninterruptedly since 1929.

According to the 88.1% trend of the quick count of the National Electoral Institute (INE), the candidate for governor of the ruling MORENA party, Delfina Gómez, led her PRI opponent, Alejandra del Moral, by 9%.

In light of the figures, Del Moral came out publicly to acknowledge that “the quick count is not in my favor.” “I recognize the triumph of teacher Delfina Gómez,” he said in a conference from his campaign headquarters.

MORENA, which already governs alone or in alliance in 22 of the 32 Mexican states, strengthens with this result its -for now- unbeatable leadership ahead of the 2024 presidential elections. With this result, MORENA wrests its greatest stronghold from the once hegemonic PRI electoral party, which ruled for 94 years.

“I feel super proud of all the Mexicans and all the Mexicans (…), they are the ones who have made this victory possible,” said Gómez with her campaign team, in a conference prior to the disclosure of the figures.

In the election of the State of Mexico, which summoned 12.6 million voters, there was a citizen participation of around 48%, according to preliminary estimates of some elections seen by analysts as a general rehearsal and banner of the race for the presidency. in 2024. Both candidates ran for the elections in alliances with other political parties.

The State of Mexico is one of the most violent in the country, with a high rate of homicides and disappearances in its poorest localities, also aggrieved by impunity and corruption. In contrast, the ” Edomex ” -as this state is known- is also home to large industries (Nestlé, Ford) and tourist attractions such as the pre-Hispanic ruins of Teotihuacán.

With 17 million inhabitants -almost the population of Guatemala- and an economic weight equivalent to 9.1% of the national Gross Domestic Product, “it is a Mexican mini-republic” fragmented between modern areas of global size and others “deeply rural”, describes the political scientist Miguel Tovar, from the firm Alterpraxis.

Elections were also held this Sunday in the vast northern state of Coahuila, which borders the United States, where a new governor and 25 legislators from the local Parliament were voted for.

Unlike the State of Mexico, here MORENA exhibited serious weaknesses with an angry lawsuit between the pre-candidates for governor, which led Ricardo Mejía, López Obrador’s former Undersecretary of Security, to break the pro-government alliance and run on his own.

The division took its toll on the Morenista candidate Armando Guadiana, who was relegated to a remote second place, compared to the PRI candidate, Manolo Jiménez, who led with around 57% of the votes and an advantage of almost 35% over his competitor. according to the quick count of the INE.