Mexico’s ‘AMLO’ leads in voting
The Associated Press
MEXICOCITY — An exit poll gave an overwhelming lead to leftist populist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico’s presidential election Sunday night,and one of his chief rivals conceded defeat shortly after polls closed nationwide.
The survey by Consulta Mitofsky said Mr. Lopez Obrador had a 16 to 26 percent lead over his nearest rival, conservative Ricardo Anaya.
The candidate said to be in third place, Jose Antonio Meade of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, acknowledged a Lopez Obrador victory in a televised speech.
“Forthe good of Mexico, I wish him the greatest success,”Mr. Meade said.
Mr. Lopez Obrador, better known as AMLO, has said he will transform Mexico if he wins this, his third bid for the presidency, vowing to overthrow the “mafia of power” he claims has looted the country and rule forthe poor.
“There is a lot of inequality, a lot of violence in this country,” said Lopez Obrador voter Hugo Carlos, 73. “This situation has to be changed.”
Exit polls by Consulta Mitofsky also forecast clear gubernatorial wins for allies of Mr. Lopez Obrador’s Morena party in four of eight state races on the ballot plus for the head of government in Mexico City. The central highland state of Guanajuato was predicted to go to a candidate of the conservative National ActionParty.
While Mr. Lopez Obrador, 64, held a commanding lead in polls heading into Sunday’s vote, he worried many who fear he could set the country back decades and lead to disaster with an interventionist economic policy.
Mr. Lopez Obrador, who casthis ballot early Sunday, has pledged to give scholarships or paid apprenticeships to youth, and increase support payments for the elderly.
All the candidates are lambasting President Donald Trump’s policies against migrants and Mexico, but voters were wondering who could best deal withMr. Trump.
Sunday’s elections for posts at every level of government are Mexico’s largest ever and have become a referendum on corruption, graft and other tricks used to divert taxpayer money to officials’ pockets.
Some see this election as Mr. Lopez Obrador’s best shot at the presidency after 12 years of near-permanent campaigning with his antiestablishment message falling on receptive ears.
“The corrupt regime is coming to its end,” Mr. Lopez Obrador said at his finalcampaign event Wednesday. “We represent modernityforged from below.”
Much of the popular ire has been aimed at unpopular President Enrique Pena Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, whose market-oriented economic reforms have yet to benefit many Mexicans, and Mr. Meade struggled during the campaign to escape popular rejection of theparty.
Mr. Anaya, who is running second in polls for a right-left coalition, tried to harness the youth vote with an emphasis on technology and new ideas, but he divided his own conservative partyto take its candidacy.