Monday 25 June 2018

In Tlaxcala the PRI ground game will matter

La politica es la politica has posted 32 articles - one for each state in Mexico, including Mexico City - in advance of the July 1, 2018, presidential election. For links to all 32 articles, scroll to the bottom of this post.

Tlaxcala is the smallest state in Mexico, representing only 0.2% of the country’s territory. It’s located in east-central Mexico, in the altiplano region, with Puebla to its north, east, and south. Edomex is to Tlaxcala’s west and Hidalgo to the northwest. The population is ~1.3 million.

The state has a diverse political culture. Tlaxcala’s governor, Marco Antonio Mena Rodríguez, is a member of the PRI and assumed office on January 1, 2017. Of the three federal senate seats, one is held by the Party of the DemocraticRevolution (PRD), one by the Workers’ Party (PT), and one by the National Action Party (PAN).

Much of the local media in Tlaxcala, such as El Sol de Tlaxcala, lean toward the PRI, publishing puffball articles on local PRI candidates, and sometimes PAN candidates, as they attend various events and make predictable pronouncements against violence and corruption.

On the electoral front, July 1 is a busy day for Tlaxcala, given that the concurrent election will result in voters choosing local and federal deputies and senators, as well as the president of the republic. The National Electoral Institute (INE) in Tlaxcala has reported a record-level of voter registration, which in Mexico takes the form of a valid credentialing process and the issuing of a voter’s card.

Despite the media bias toward traditional parties, Tlaxcala has a history of open-mindedness and ideological fluidity. The former governor of Tlaxcala, Héctor Ortiz Ortiz, was born in Oaxaca, and was a member of the PRI most of his life. When he lost the PRI nomination to run as governor, he switched to the PAN, whereupon he won the nomination and then the election.

Now polls are showing that left-leaning Morena is leading in the polls for the federal senate in Tlaxcala, which should bode well for Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), the presidential candidate for the Morena-led “Juntos Haremos Historia” (Together We make History) coalition.

However, the PRI has a strong ground game in Tlaxcala, and will be getting out the vote. PRI senate candidate Anabel Alvarado Varela has secured the support of the public transit union, which might also translate into support for José Antonio Meade, presidential candidate for the PRI-led "Todos por Mexico" coalition.

And Ricardo Anaya, the presidential candidate for the PAN-led “Por Mexico al Frente” coalition? Tlaxcala has a PAN senator, but this election cycle the support in Tlaxcala appears to be shifting to Morena.

Thankfully, to date Tlaxcala has also been a relatively safe place to be a journalist  the only reported murder was back in 1913.


Below are the links to the posts for each state: 



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