Mexico’s ‘El Bronco’ set to become nation’s first independent governor

Jaime Rodríguez, center, will become Mexico’s first independent candidate to be elected governor. (Julio Cesar Aguilar/AFP/Getty Images)

By Joshua Partlow-June 8

OAXACA, Mexico — The candidate known as “El Bronco,” who harnessed voters’ frustration with established political parties, will become Mexico’s first independent governor, according to official results from the country’smidterm elections.

Jaime Rodríguez, a tough-talking former mayor and farmer from the northern state of Nuevo Leon, had spent decades of his career working inside the machinery of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. But he broke from the party last year and recast himself as an outsider, gaining favor among voters tired of corruption scandals and drug violence. He was surging to a victory by more than 25 points in the state that is home to the business hub of Monterrey.

But across the country, the picture did not appear so grim for the party of President Enrique Peña Nieto. With more than 80 percent of the returns counted, the PRI and its allied parties appear to have retained their slim majority in Congress. The PRI was bolstered by the allied Green Party, which stood to gain up to 20 seats in the 500-member lower house.

[An interview with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto]

The election will also decide governorships in nine states, as well as hundreds of mayoral posts and local seats.

 

There was sporadic violence during Sunday’s vote, with protesters burning ballot boxes and voting materials in several volatile states, particularly in the south. Federal police and soldiers deployed to secure voting sites in several states, including Oaxaca, where the teachers union had called for a boycott of the elections. The union has been protesting constitutional changes to the public education system.

Over the past year, the image of the PRI has been tarnished by violence in states such as Michoacan, Guerrero and Tamaulipas. The disappearance of 43 teachers’ college students in Guerrero, allegedly at the hands of local police and drug gangs, sparked nationwide protests for months and sapped Peña Nieto’s approval ratings.

The PRI gained ground in some states, including Sonora, where its candidate pushed out the National Action Party (PAN). The leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) was winning the governor’s race in Michoacan.