Early election returns and the results of an official "quick count" by electoral authorities indicate that the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) is set to take back the Mexican presidency, as well as the Jalisco statehouse.
The PRI's Enrique Peña Nieto will come first in the presidential race with between 37.93 and 38.55 percent of the vote, Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) President Leonardo Valdes Zurita announced at 11.15 p.m. Sunday.
The "quick count" (conteo rapido) was based on results from 7,500 polling places (around five percent of the total) in all 32 Mexican states.
Leftist coalition candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will obtain between 30.90 and 31.86 percent of the vote and Josefina Vazquez Mota of the ruling National Action Party (PAN) between 25.10 and 26.03 percent, Valdes said.
With 93.62 percent of the official vote tallied at noon on Monday, Peña Nieto led Lopez Obrador by 37.96 to 31.79 percent. The full results and a definitive winner won't be announced until Wednesday.
Turnout was 62 percent, Valdes said.
Immediately following Valdes' announcement, President Felipe Calderon of the PAN appeared on television to accept Peña Nieto's advantage, and congratulate the country for participating in a peaceful democratic election.
Speaking to jubilant supporters at PRI headquarters in Mexico City, Peña Nieto said the election was "a victory for Mexico" and time for "national reconciliation."
Lopez Obrador refused to concede defeat and said he would wait for his next move until after the definitive results were known on Wednesday.
If the early indicators are correct, Lopez Obrador will finish runner-up in his second consecutive presidential election but with fewer votes than first time around.
Less than an hour after the last polling places closed at 8 p.m., Vazquez Mota addressed her supporters and admitted that the numbers were not in her favor.
Jalisco elections
At noon on Monday, with 98.32 percent of the vote tallied in the Jalisco gubernatorial race, the PRI's Aristoteles Sandoval led his nearest rival, Enrique Alfaro of the Citizens Movement, by 4.7 percent.
Sandoval spoke to reporters soon after it became clear that his lead was unassailable.
"This is the beginning of a new era for Jalisco," said Sandoval, who will end 18 years of PAN rule in the state.
Alfaro refused to concede and said he could catch Sandoval as the final votes came in.
Stony-faced PAN candidate Fernando Guzman conceded defeat at a press conference well before midnight.
Hundreds of exuberant PRI supporters took over the Minerva Glorieta to celebrate Sandoval's likely victory.
Early results suggested that the PRI would win the most seats in the State Congress and capture dozens of municipalities.
The PAN, however, held Chapala city hall, despite more voters in the municipality preferring the PRI in the two state races.