Out-of-Nowhere Election Triumph of Independent Alters Mexico's Outlook for Change Tim Johnson - McClatchyDC
go to original June 9, 2015

The former mayor and tough-talking farmer, Jaime Rodriguez, trounced his opponent by a wide-margin, becoming Governor-elect of Mexico's prosperous northern state of Nuevo Leon. (CCTV America)

A bright new star has appeared in the Mexican political firmament, and he goes by the nickname “El Bronco.”

Jaime Rodríguez, an independent candidate, won his campaign to become governor of Mexico’s most prosperous border state, Nuevo Leon, home to the industrial hub of Monterrey.

The triumph of the hard-cussing Rodríguez, a rancher known as “El Bronco,” or “the rough one,” drew excited proclamations this week of cracks in Mexico’s long-stagnant political system that would embolden independents. And indeed, Sunday’s midterm elections provided evidence of further erosion in support for established political parties.

But analysts cautioned that Rodríguez’s victory marks incremental change, and they cast some doubt on whether a true independent could make a successful run in 2018 for the presidency because of restrictive rules and antipathy from media tycoons who benefit from a cozy relation with those already in power.

Rodríguez, 57, was a member of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, for 33 years, leaving the party last year after failing to win its nod to become candidate for governor of Nuevo Leon. Rodríguez then mounted an independent campaign that rallied an army of supporters on Facebook and Twitter.

In the end, “El Bronco” trampled his opponents with nearly 49 percent of the ballots in Nuevo Leon, kicking the wind out of the PRI candidate, Ivonne Álvarez García, who captured less than 24 percent of the vote. It was a greater margin than any of the other eight gubernatorial races Sunday in Mexico.

Read the rest at McClatchyDC

Related: Mexico Elections Expose Growing Weakness of Ruling PRI and Other Parties (EFE)

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