The Week in Review: 6/25/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 6/25/2012

Less than a week remains before the July 1 election: Enrique Peña Nieto (PRI-PVEM) leads by a steady 12 to 16 percent and his party looks likely to claim up to five of the current gubernatorial races. New studies suggest this support is largely due to economic voting, not security concerns, and the candidates and their foreign policy advisors address their policy positions in two sessions.

The Week in Review: 6/11/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 6/11/2012

The second and final debate between the presidential candidates was broadcast, due to popular pressure, on Mexico’s national television stations on June 10. In the event held exactly three weeks before the July 1 election, frontrunner Enrique Peña Nieto (PRI) once again held his own, thereby defending his lead. Observers disagreed on the winners and losers of the debate but most noted that the debate was unlikely to be a game changer in this electoral contest. The battle for second place, however, may be affected.

The Week in Review: 6/4/2012

Katie Putnam and Eric L. Olson, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 6/4/2012

López Obrador

In a remarkable turn of events, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (PRD) appears to dramatically narrow the gap with frontrunner Enrique Peña Nieto (PRI) in a new poll from Reforma newspaper. While other similarly credible polls put him much further back, it seems that the student protests and recent corruption scandals are benefitting the PRD candidate and may have hurt the PRI candidate.

The Week in Review: 5/29/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 5/29/2012

Student marches rocked Mexico City over the past week, injecting a new dynamic into the race for the first time, as Andrés Manuel López Obrador (PRD) takes over second place in a Mitofsky poll.

The Week in Review: 5/21/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 5/21/2012

After the devastating finding of 49 dismembered bodies on a highway outside Monterey that rocked the country on May 13, experts highlighted the surprising lack of attention of the major presidential candidates to concrete security solutions. Dr. Duncan Wood writes for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) about the impact of the economic situation on the upcoming elections, while Fitch Ratings determines the impact of the July 1 election to be “neutral” on the country’s creditworthiness.

The Week in Review: 5/14/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 5/14/2012

The PRI’s Enrique Peña Nieto appears to hold his lead in the polls after the first presidential debate, and some observers bemoan the lack of interest among young Mexicans in the election and politics more generally.

The Week in Review: 5/7/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 5/7/2012

The presidential candidates participate in their first televised debate, accusing each other of corruption and of misleading the public. Trailing candidates focus their criticisms on the frontrunner, Enrique Peña Nieto, who did not appear to suffer any fatal blows. Observers disagreed on the best performance of the evening, which suggests that no candidate had a clear win. 

The Week in Review: 4/30/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 4/30/2012

Videgaray

The Wall Street Journal publishes an interview with Enrique Pena Nieto’s campaign chief, while Andrés Manuel López Obrador talks security in Monterrey and a new Reforma poll suggests the race may be closer than the conventional wisdom indicates.

The Week in Review: 4/23/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 4/23/2012 

With just over two months left before the July 1^st elections, the PRI’s Peña Nieto continues to secure his lead in the presidential contest as the PAN and PRD candidates struggle for second place. Some polls put the PRI-Green Party (PV) alliance ahead in congressional elections, while the PRD’s mayoral candidate leads by a wide margin in the Mexico City race. The polls are not promising for the governing PAN party.

The Week in Review: 4/16/2012

Katie Putnam, The Mexico Institute’s Elections Guide, 4/16/2012

The PAN’s Josefina Vázquez Mota seeks to solidify party unity by expanding her campaign team, while the PRI’s Enrique Peña Nieto gets more specific on security policy and the PRD’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador reassures business leaders.