Even though it seems that many candidates have already been on the campaign trail for months, the period when hopefuls running for various governmental offices are let off the leash to “legally” canvass voters for their support kicks off on Friday, March 1.
The finer details of what is permitted or not in a “pre-campaign” or a “full campaign” are lost on most Mexicans. However, what they will soon realize is that the March 1 to May 29 “official” campaign period now allows candidates to take to the stump in earnest, advertize, make house calls, promise the world and hold massive public gatherings.
Presidential campaigns
The three candidates running in the June 2 presidential election will all start their campaigns with large rallies on March 1.
Supporters of Claudia Sheinbaum of the Sigamos Haciendo Historia (Let’s Keep Making History) coalition will gather in the Mexico City Zócalo. The frontrunner to replace Andrés Manuel López Obrador, she has promised to “defend and advance the transformation, deepening and expansion of the rights of the people of Mexico, democracy and freedoms.”
Sheinbaum, a former mayor of Mexico City, represents Morena, the Partido Verde Ecologista de México and the Partido del Trabajo.
Xóchitl Gálvez, the presidential candidate of the Fuerza y Corazón por México (Strength and Heart for Mexico) alliance, will begin her campaign in Fresnillo, Zacatecas. She has chosen this location because it is the municipality in Mexico with the highest perception of insecurity among its inhabitants. Gálvez says she will send a message of commitment in the fight against the violence that afflicts many regions of Mexico. Insecurity is seen as the current government’s Achilles heel and will be one of the main thrusts of Gálvez’s campaign.
Gálvez represents the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).
Big lead
The latest poll by Buendia & Marquez for the Universal newsgroup gave Sheinbaum a 23-percentage point lead over Gálvez (59 to 36 percent). The third candidate, Jorge Alvarez Maynez of the Citizens Movement, is in a distant third place, with just five percent support. Álvarez will start his presidential campaign in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco on March 1.
Televised debates featuring the presidential candidates are scheduled on April 7 and 28, and May 16.
Jalisco elections
In Jalisco, the official campaign for governor also runs for three months, from March 1 to May 29. The three candidates vying to replace Enrique Alfaro are Pablo Lemus of the Citizens Movement (the favorite), Laura Haro of Fuerza y Corazón por Jalisco and Claudia Delgadillo of Sigamos Haciendo Historia.
The campaigns for the Jalisco legislature (LXIV), and 125 mayoral posts and municipal councils will start one month later, on March 31, and run through May 29.
Candidates for places in the Jalisco Congress will face off in the state’s 20 electoral districts, while 18 diputados will be chosen via proportional representation. In total, 1,231 municipal councilors will be elected throughout the state, 692 by direct vote, and 539 via proportional representation.
By law, all campaigning must cease for the three days prior to the June 2 election.