With Only a Little Cash, Independent Winner Pedro Kumamoto Shakes Up Jalisco Politics Yemeli Ortega - The China Post
go to original June 10, 2015

With just a few thousand dollars and an Internet-powered grassroots campaign, a 25-year-old Mexican of Japanese ancestry tapped into discontent with corruption-plagued political parties to make history in midterm elections.

Pedro Kumamoto, nicknamed "Kuma," is among a handful of independents who were elected in Sunday's vote, the first that allowed candidates without parties to run for office since a 2014 reform.

With a US$14,000 war chest financed with small donations he limited to no more than US$450, Kumamoto brushed aside rivals from well-financed and entrenched political parties to win a seat in the Jalisco state legislature in western Mexico.

His supporters also offered sunscreen, water bottles and apples for the grueling door-to-door campaign in his hometown of Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, Mexico's second biggest city.

"It's not about me. It's not a candidacy based on personality," the broad-smiling Kumamoto, who favors casual clothes such as jeans and untucked shirts, told AFP in a telephone interview.

"It's a candidacy that happened through social movements related to outrage with traditional politics, with political parties that haven't worked correctly," said Kumamoto, who won 39 percent of the vote.

Read the rest at The China Post

Photo: proyectodiez.mx

Related: So Just How Maverick Is the Mexican Elections Indie Winner ‘El Bronco’? (VICE News)

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