Trump’s Words Have Consequences, and a Local Election Sunday Will Be Their First Big Test Mark Vargas - The Washington Examiner
go to original June 2, 2017

Delfina Gomez, Mexico State gubernatorial candidate for the National Regeneration Movement, or MORENA, greets supporters as she arrives for a campaign rally in Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico state. MORENA is attempting to unseat the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the PRI, in Mexico state's June 4 gubernatorial elections. (AP/Rebecca Blackwell)

This Sunday, the State of Mexico - the largest of Mexico's 32 states - will have their gubernatorial election, and Trump's divisive rhetoric towards Mexico is what every voter will be thinking about as they prepare to head to the polls.

The race is between Deflina Gomez, a member of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA - which is led by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a far-left, anti-American and presidential candidate), and Alfredo del Mazo (a member of President Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party - PRI) will be closely watched throughout all of Mexico and the rest of the world.

Listen: Mexico State Governor's Race Seen As Referendum on Ruling Party (NPR)

The PRI has been the governing party in the State of Mexico for nearly 90 years. But for the very first time, PRI is in danger of losing the gubernatorial election. The Trump backlash is in full force, and political observers worry that a Gomez win on Sunday will almost guarantee an Obrador victory in Mexico's presidential election in 2018.

2018 will be Obrador's third attempt at running for president. In 2007, after his loss to president-elect Felipe Calderon by a razor-thin margin, he refused to concede claiming election fraud, held rallies across the country, and referred to himself as the legitimate president of Mexico.

A hero of the poor and unabashed political outsider, he is often referred to as a Hugo Chavez-wannabe, the late president of Venezuela. He also has an affinity for dictators and he views the U.S. as an enemy. He even tells the poor that their lives will dramatically improve once he's elected president, and he's known to drive around the streets handing out money.

Feeding off the anti-Trump rhetoric, Obrador is optimistic about Sunday's results. And if Trump continues to insult Mexico with his talk about a wall and making Mexico pay for it, Obrador will feel optimistic about his chances in 2018 as well.

Read the rest at The Washington Examiner

Related: Why Mexico's June 4 Election Is So Important (Forbes)

Related: Challenges to the Rotation of Power in the State of Mexico (Mexico Voices)

Related: Mexico Ruling Party Risks Nasty Upset in Governor's Race (Agence France-Presse)

Related: Women in Mexico Voting for Their Lives After Murders Overlooked (Bloomberg)

Related: Mexico Politics: Three Possible Gubernatorial Defeats for PRI on June 4th (Mexico Voices)

Related: Trump Critic Seeks Boost in Mexico State Election: Pena Nieto’s Party on the Ropes (The Washington Times)

Related: Mexico Politics: Reasons to Give the PRI the Boot in State of Mexico Gubernatorial Election (Mexico Voices)

Related: The Politician with the Most at Stake in Mexican Governor's Race Isn't Even Running (The Los Angeles Times)

Related: Mexico Elections: Challenges to the Rotation of Power in the State of Mexico (Mexico Voices)

Related: Vote-Buying, a Fear-Based Practice, Remains Commonplace in Key Mexican State (Latin American Herald Tribune)

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