On Sunday 6 June, Mexicans took to the polls in what was the country’s largest-ever election – and one of its most violent, with candidates, local officials, journalists and human rights activists targeted.
There were reports of up to 150 killings during the campaign, which was marked by political polarization heightened by the president’s attacks on the country’s electoral authority, as well as on his various detractors, journalists and civil society groups.
The people voted for 15 state governors, 30 state legislators, 1,900 mayors and the lower house of the national legislature. Though Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, was not on the ballot – he is halfway through his six-year term – the election was largely seen as a referendum on his presidency and likely either to boost MORENA, his party, or clip its wings.
