With election day now just eight weeks away, candidates vying to win the Chapala mayor’s seat have hit the physical and virtual campaign trail for all they’re worth.
Leading contenders Joaquin Huerta Barrios, running at the top of the incumbent National Action Party (PAN) ticket, and Gerardo Degollado Gonzalez, heading the line-up for the Compromiso por Jalisco coalition (PRI-PVEM), officially kicked off their election bids almost simultaneously Sunday, April 29, with big public rallies in Chapala.
Degollado – who hopes to get back in the saddle after holding the city’s top post from 2007 to 2009 – pressed the flesh with hundreds of supporters gathered at Chapala’s Lienzo Charro Gonzalez Gallo bull ring.
Huerta – well known to voters for his prior experience in various local government jobs – drew an equally large crowd for a street march from the Cristo Rey plaza located at the apex of central Chapala that ended in the heart of downtown.
Followers of both men hit the streets earlier in the day to pass out flyers and plaster stickers on motor vehicles.Rallies in outlying communities continued throughout the course of the week. Meanwhile, supporters are keeping Facebook and other social networks buzzing with frequent postings of pro and con commentaries, photos and video clips.
Three other contenders considered to have a slim chance of victory are trying to hold their own with more limited human and material resources. Jose Antonio Flores Plascencia is running under the banner of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), Luis Candelario Padilla Martinez represents Nueva Alianza (Panal), and Francisco Javier Diaz Ochoa is pegged for the Alizana Progresista por Jalisco (PT-MC-Alianza Ciudadana).
Similar scenarios are being played out in another lakeshore municipality.
Jocotepec has five candidates in the mayoral contest: Laura Garcia Mendoza (PAN), Jhon Francis O´Shea Cuevas (PRI-PVEM), Jose Manuel Jimenez Vazquez (PRD), Gabriel Chavez Rameño (Panal) and Jose Miguel Gomez Lopez (PT-MC-Alianza Ciudadana).
Local, state and national electoral processes will coincide in coming to a head on Sunday, July 1.