June 23, 2021
93 million Mexican voters headed to the polls on June 6 to elect members of the lower house of Congress, 15 governors, 30 state representatives, and nearly 1,900 municipal government positions. The president’s MORENA party will now hold between 265-292 seats in the 500 person lower chamber, falling quite short of their current two-thirds majority. MORENA will depend on its allies (Labor Party and Green Party) to pass legislation requiring a simple majority.
In the gubernatorial races, MORENA will hold 11 of the governor seats including Baja California and Baja California Sur. Former Mexicali Mayor Marina del Pilar Avila will become Baja’s first female governor, joined by another 6 female governors shaping Mexico’s political history. Governor-elect Marina del Pilar announced a strategic plan for her first 100 days in office comprised by a list of priorities and action items to promote economic development, tourism, fisheries and aquaculture, sustainability, education. The plan also highlights the need to strengthen and increase cross-border collaboration in our Cali-Baja region.
MORENA also won all municipal elections across Baja California:
- Montserrat Caballero (Tijuana);
- Norma Bustamante (Mexicali);
- Dario Benitez (Tecate);
- Armando Ayala (Ensenada, reelected); and
- Araceli Brown (Rosarito, reelected).
Despite the mixed results from the midterm elections, President Lopez Obrador stated that he is still planning to implement a recall referendum as promised during his campaign – a chance to vote him out of office in 2022.