Maverick Nuevo Leon State Governor ’El Bronco’ Takes Aim at Presidency Dave Graham - Reuters
go to original October 5, 2017

Mexican Gov. Jaime Rodriguez Calderon, aka "El Bronco" (Jan-Albert Hootsen/Fox News Latino)

The first man in modern Mexican history to win a gubernatorial election as an independent said he aimed to run in the 2018 presidential election, putting pressure on the leading anti-establishment contender, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Jaime Rodriguez ruptured the political status quo by capturing the wealthy northern state of Nuevo Leon by a landslide in 2015 after he broke with President Enrique Pena Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

Rodriguez adds to a fragmented landscape of contenders led by twice presidential runner-up Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor who has spent years pitching himself as the only solution to ongoing political corruption and chronic inequality.

“I want to give it a try, and I want to show that the people are tired of political parties and the politicians themselves,” Rodriguez, 59, told Mexican broadcaster Radio Formula.

Known as “El Bronco” due to his blunt style, Rodriguez has trailed far behind Lopez Obrador in early opinion polls.

... Voter surveys show all presidential hopefuls struggling to win the backing of as much as one third of the electorate.

Read the rest at Reuters

Related: Major Contender Zavala May Go Independent in Mexico Election Twist (BNamericas)

Related: Will Mexico Go Down the Populist Route in 2018? (Modern Diplomacy)

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