2006 Federal District (Mexico) election explained

Election Name:2006 election for Head of Government of the Federal District
Country:Mexico
Type:Presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Year:2000
Next Election:2012 Federal District of Mexico head of government election
Next Year:2012
Election Date:2 July 2006
Nominee1:Marcelo Ebrard
Party1:PRD
Popular Vote1:2,215,147
Percentage1:47.05%
Nominee2:Demetrio Sodi
Party2:PAN
Popular Vote2:1,302,097
Percentage2:27.66%
Map Size:150px
Head of Government
Before Election:Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez
Before Party:PRD
After Election:Marcelo Ebrard
After Party:PRD
Flag Image:File:LOGO DEL GDF 2006 2012.png
Nominee3:Beatriz Paredes
Party3:PRI
Popular Vote3:1,031,334
Percentage3:21.91%

Elections were held in the Federal District of Mexico (Mexico City) were on Sunday, 2 July 2006 to elect the district's Head of Government, all 66 deputies of the Legislative Assembly, and 16 borough mayors.

Marcelo Ebrard, a member of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), won the election for Head of Government.

Head of Government election

Background

In the, PRD candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador narrowly defeated PAN candidate Santiago Creel.[1] López Obrador served as Head of Government until 2005, when he resigned to mount a candidacy for president in 2006.[2] He was replaced by Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez following his resignation.[3]

Polling in September 2005 found the PRD to have the support of 53% of voters going into the election, with 16% for the PRI and 14% for PAN.[4]

Candidate selection

PRD

Polling in 2005 found Marcelo Ebrard, who served as the Federal District's secretary of social development under López Obrador, was found to be the most popular potential PRD candidate among party members and the general electorate. The polling found him to be favored for the nomination over former party president Pablo Gómez Álvarez (second place) and former federal deputy Jesús Ortega (third place).

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas opposed the candidacy of Ebrard, a former member of the Democratic Center Party, accusing him of not distancing himself from neoliberalism or the Salinas administration's persecution of PRD members. Ebrard's candidacy was defended by Martí Batres, who argued that Ebrard deserved the full rights of other party members.[5]

Ebrard was ultimately chosen as the PRD's candidate as part of the Alliance for the Good of All, which included the Labor Party and Convergence.[6]

PAN

Polling in July 2005 by the firm Consulta Mitofsky found that First Lady of Mexico Marta Sahagún, the wife of president Vicente Fox, was the most popular potential PAN candidate. In August 2005, polling conducted by Reforma found Josefina Vázquez Mota, the Secretary of Social Development, to be the most popular PAN candidate. Polling company Parametría found that Senator Demetrio Sodi led the field of potential PAN candidates among party members and the general electorate.

Sodi faced Senator Jesús Galván Muñoz and federal deputy Fernando Pérez Noriega for the PAN nomination. Galván criticized Sodi, a former PRD member, for not formally joining PAN. Galván argued that if Sodi was chosen, PAN could end up falling to third place in the general election. He described Sodi's decision not to formally join PAN as "reprehensible".[7]

Sodi argued that, if selected as the party's candidate, he would be able to attract former PRD voters who opposed Ebrard's nomination as the PRD's candidate.[8] Sodi ultimately won PAN's nomination in an internal election in which 2,918 PAN members voted, with 45% abstentionism. Despite being a PAN candidate, Sodi distanced himself from right-wing politics, stating that in PAN, "almost no one likes being told that they are right-wing".[9]

PRI

Polling conducted in 2005 found that Beatriz Paredes, the former Governor of Tlaxcala and President of the Chamber of Deputies, was the most popular potential PRI candidate among both party members and the general electorate. Hypothetical polling by Consulta Mitofsky in July 2005 found that Paredes was favored over former PRI president María de los Ángeles Moreno by a 54.4% to 8.6% margin among all voters, and an 81.2% to 11.3% margin among PRI members.

Polling

Date Publisher Ebrard (PRD)Paredes (PRI) Sodi (PAN)
November 13, 2005El Universal 45% 16% 15%
November 3, 2005 GEA-ISA 61% 25% 14%
January 18, 2006 Parametría 66% 14% 18%
January 22, 2006Reforma 60% 18% 20%
January 22, 2006 GEA-ISA 58% 16% 26%
January 29, 2006 El Universal 47% 16% 13%
February 19, 2006GEA-ISA 65% 17% 16%
March 19, 2006 Reforma 57% 18% 23%
March 19, 2006 GEA-ISA 42% 33% 23%
March 29, 2006 Parametría 55% 22% 21%
April 9, 2006 Reforma 52% 23% 23%
April 30, 2006 GEA-ISA 46% 28% 24%
May 28, 2006 Reforma 51% 23% 25%
May 28, 2006 GEA-ISA 48% 27% 23%
June 21, 2006 Reforma 47% 22% 28%
June 21, 2006 El Universal 53% 22% 23%

Results

The Federal District Electoral Institute (IEDF) formally announced Ebrard's victory on 5 July 2006 and presented him with his certificate of majority.

Party/Alliance Pictures Candidate Votes %
Alliance for the Good of All (PRD, PT, Convergence)2,215,147 47.05
National Action Party1,302,097 27.66
Alliance for Mexico (PRI, PVEM)1,031,334 21.91
New Alliance Party109,133 2.32
Social Democratic and Farmer Alternative50,482 1.07

Borough mayors

In the sixteen borough mayoral races, the PRD-led alliance was victorious in fourteen (the thirteen it already held, plus Milpa Alta gained from the PRI), with the PAN retaining the two (Benito Juárez, D.F. and Miguel Hidalgo, D.F.) that it had won in the 2003 election.

Legislative Assembly

The PRD-led alliance won in 36 of the 40 single-member local constituencies for the Legislative Assembly, with the PAN winning the other four. The additional 26 deputies assigned on the basis of proportional representation in accordance with the parties' total vote numbers were distributed as follows: PAN, 12; PRI, 4; PVEM, 4; Nueva Alianza, 4; and Alternativa, 2.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kraul . Chris . 2000-07-03 . Left Headed for Another Capital Win . 2024-06-24 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
  2. Web site: Romero . Gabriela . Gomez . Laura . Bolaños . Angel . 2005-07-25 . Envió el jefe de Gobierno carta de renuncia al cargo - La Jornada . 2024-06-24 . www.jornada.com.mx.
  3. Web site: Alejandro Encinas: quién es el operador político que se suma a la campaña de Sheinbaum . 2024-06-24 . El Universal . es.
  4. Web site: 2005-09-02 . Rumbo a la elección de Jefe de Gobierno del Distrito Federal . 2024-06-24 . Parametría . es.
  5. Web site: Bolaños . Angel . Romero . Gabriela . 2005-11-06 . Tan perredista es Marcelo Ebrard como Jesús Ortega, asegura Martí Batres - La Jornada . 2024-06-24 . Jornada.
  6. Web site: 2005-12-04 . Ex jefe de policía candidato a alcalde de México . 2024-06-24 . LMTOnline . es.
  7. Web site: Romero Sanchez . Gabriela . 2005-12-05 . Rechaza Jesús Galván que Sodi garantice el triunfo del PAN - La Jornada . 2024-06-24 . Jornada.
  8. Web site: 2005-12-07 . Advierte Sodi: Dará la "sorpresa" en el 2006 . 2024-06-24 . Proceso . spanish.
  9. Web site: Ramirez . Bertha Teresa . Salgado . Agustin . 2006-01-30 . Apanicado ante la posibilidad de una caída en el DF, Acción Nacional hizo a Sodi su candidato - La Jornada . 2024-06-24 . Jornada.