Front-Runner Pena Nieto Extends Big Lead Dave Graham - Reuters
go to original April 23, 2012

Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) waves to reporters after registering as a presidential candidate for the upcoming July 1 federal elections at the Federal Electoral Institute in Mexico City (Tomas Bravo Reuters/Reuters)

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's presidential front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto has extended his big lead in the run-up to the July 1 election following a sharp drop in support for the ruling party candidate, an opinion poll showed on Monday.

The voter survey by polling firm Buendia & Laredo for newspaper El Universal showed backing for Pena Nieto, candidate of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), at 41.6 percent, down from 42.5 percent in a poll published on March 26.

However, due to a decline in the fortunes of Josefina Vazquez Mota, candidate of President Felipe Calderon's conservative National Action Party (PAN), Pena Nieto could be on course for a landslide victory if his support holds.

Vazquez Mota dipped to 17.5 percent from 23.7 percent in the paper's last survey, increasing Pena Nieto's effective lead.

Leftist contender Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the runner-up to Calderon in the 2006 election, was at 16.4 percent, compared with 16.9 percent in the March poll.

Stripping out undecided voters or those who expressed no preference, support for Pena Nieto stood at 54.3 percent. This compared to just 22.9 percent for Vazquez Mota, while Lopez Obrador was further back at 21.4 percent, the paper said.

The latest El Universal poll was conducted between April 12 and 16 and surveyed 1,250 eligible voters. It had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, the newspaper said.

Pena Nieto has led the race to succeed Calderon for more than two years, despite a series of embarrassing gaffes in December and the revelation in January that he had cheated on his first wife and fathered two children out of wedlock.

Voters believe the youthful PRI candidate is more likely to create jobs in Mexico as well as quell the brutal turf wars between drug gangs and clashes with security forces that have killed more than 50,000 people in the past five years.

The violence has undermined support for the PAN, and Vazquez Mota has struggled to overcome infighting within her party. Her campaign has also been blighted by mishaps and negative comments by senior party figures about her chances of winning.

Lopez Obrador is still trying to shake off the ill will caused by the massive street protests he launched after the 2006 election, when he accused Calderon of robbing him.

Many of his former supporters deserted him and despite campaigning relentlessly for the past five years, he has not managed to make up much ground in the race yet.

Editing by Mark Heinrich

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