Morena has put an end to the mystery surrounding the candidate in the capital. Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s movement announced on Friday that Clara Brugada, former mayor of Iztapalapa, has been selected as a candidate for the position of head of government of Mexico City in next year’s elections. Omar García Harfuch, former secretary of the capital’s security minister, has remained on the path to the nomination, who, although he won by 14 points in the poll conducted by the party in the capital, was eliminated from the race by the criterion of gender parity that favored Brugada . Regarding Harfuch, the question now arises as to what position he will take in the face of defeat. His options are limited to two options: unity or rupture. The former police chief’s entourage assures that he will abide by the party’s decision and support Brugada. Morena this Friday also awarded the candidacies of the other eight states that will hold gubernatorial elections in 2024. With this, the party ends weeks of speculation and tense internal negotiations, which were marked by the commitment to parity in the distribution of nominations, with an agonizing day in which the results of the internal polls were published in sections.
At the end of the day, Clara Brugada celebrates her candidacy with Rocío Nahle. Nayeli Cruz
Only two women have finally prevailed in the polls of the nine states electing governorships in 2024: Rocío Nahle, former energy minister, in Veracruz, and Margarita González, former head of the National Lottery, in Morelos. To comply with the INE order to nominate at least five women, Morena chose Brugada in Mexico City, Alma Alcaraz in Guanajuato and Claudia Delgadillo in Jalisco. The men selected were Javier May (Tabasco), Alejandro Armenta (Puebla), Eduardo Ramírez (Chiapas) and Huacho Díaz (Yucatán). In the case of the capital, the decision ignored the fact that Harfuch achieved the highest scores not only in terms of voting intention, but also in aspects such as honesty, knowledge of the city, proximity to the people and identification with the party’s values. according to the responses collected during the surveys. The capital’s former police chief received 40.5% of preferences compared to 26.7% for Brugada.
The Morena leadership convened the candidates in each state in groups this Friday to present the studies, and at the end of each meeting they set out to release them to the media. In all cases, it was announced who was the most competitive man and woman in each state, with the clarification, especially for men, that winning the poll did not automatically mean being the candidate, since the gender parity criterion at least did so Five women were nominated for governorships. If a woman won the election in her state, she automatically became a candidate, as was the case in Veracruz and Morelos.
Omar García Harfuch receives applause when the candidates are announced. Nayeli Cruz
The key question for winning the poll was who would be preferred as the candidate. In some states the difference between first and second place was very clear. In Yucatán, delegate Joaquín Díaz was 31 points ahead of Senator Verónica Camino, the top-ranked woman. In Tabasco, former Mayan Train director Javier May had 36 points more than Mayor Yolanda Osuna. In the remaining states, the difference between the leaders was larger. In Puebla, Sen. Alejandro Armenta gained a lead within the margin of error over Rep. Ignacio Mier, leaving Claudia Rivera, former mayor of the capital Puebla, in third place. Veracruz was also one of the most surprising units, with just a point difference between Nahle and head of state Manuel Huerta. In Jalisco, Lomelí was five points ahead of federal representative Claudia Delgadillo. In Guanajuato, Sheffield won first place by just one point over local representative Alma Alcaraz. And in the case of Chiapas, Senator Eduardo Ramírez won the poll by less than two points over Senator Sasil de León.
The long (and bumpy) road to candidacy
The results of the internal polls were due to be announced on October 30, but tensions led Mario Delgado’s leadership to postpone the decision until November 10, five days after the official start of the preparatory phase in the capital. The decision between García Harfuch, former police chief of the capital and front-runner in most published polls, and Brugada, former mayor of Iztapalapa and the highest-ranking woman in the race, posed a dilemma for Morena and brought to light internal differences should Claudia Sheinbaum take over the baton, which Party’s map to seek the presidency. It is understood that Harfuch, having given up his ambitions to run the capital, will be given a place in Sheinbaum’s Cabinet if she wins the 2024 election, in the public security department where he has served since 2008 is.
Clara Brugada and Omar García Harfuch during a Morena conference in Mexico City on October 16. Andrea Murcia Monsivais (Cuartoscuro)
The parity criteria, approved by the National Electoral Institute (INE) at the end of October last year, shook the body of candidates in the nine states that elect governors and included versions of possible defections of those who were weeded out to favor the nomination of women. Delgado had already expected that at least three men would have to give up their ambitions. On Thursday, a day before the poll results were announced, the party leadership published an agreement that would secure a place in Congress for the sacrificed men. The document states that these will automatically become “coordinators for the defense of federalism” in their states, a euphemistic name that means they will be ranked first on the lists of multi-member candidates for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, which guarantees one seat or one seat in the next six-year term.
The final stage of the negotiations lasted in strict secrecy until the last moment. García Harfuch and Brugada’s teams insisted for weeks that there would be no definition until the results of the polls were available and determined the voting intention of each candidate, their competitiveness against other political forces in 2024 and the best strategy for Morena could be ratified Dominance as the political party with the most votes and with the largest number of governorships in the next election. The methodology was the same as other internal processes, with attribute measurements and comparisons with so-called mirror surveys.
At the same time as confirming the distribution of candidates, Morena has already started the so-called scar operation to avoid possible fractures. Given the clashes seen in the presidential race with former Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and in the state races, unity remains the leadership’s main motto for its militancy. The fighting caused chaos. For example, Senator Lucy Meza, a candidate for Morelos’ candidacy, resigned from the party after being excluded from the internal race despite her good showing in the polls. Meza was immediately welcomed by the opposition Frente Amplio, which will nominate her for the position she was denied in Morena. Rep. Mier complained about the results in Puebla, one of the most closed states, and announced that he would make a decision about his political future next Sunday. Antonio Pérez Garibay, father of pilot Checo Pérez, also accused fraud in Jalisco. Another good example is Mexico City, where Harfuch and Brugada, despite promoting the discourse of unity, constantly waged a bitter battle for candidacy through their militant structures, social networks and the media.
After the gubernatorial nominations are resolved, it remains to be seen whether the losing candidates will remain in the party to support the winners or whether they will seek placement in another party. After all, based on the available surveys, they are aware of the public influence they have in their states and nothing prevents them from using it as a bargaining chip. The candidacy battles pose a dilemma for Sheinbaum’s presidential career, as he must not only strive to build a national consensus on his project but also put out the fires lit at the local level by disaffected Morenistas. New tensions are now expected to spill over into nominations for congressional and local offices, months before Mexicans go to elections next year to determine nearly 20,000 public offices.
In unity and organization we have carried out a historic process in which we have listened to the people who have decided that the coordinators for the defense of the transformation in the nine federal entities will be:
Yucatan – @huachodiazmena
Veracruz – @rocionahle
Tabasco -… pic.twitter.com/LhqQzBrsNi– Morena (@PartidoMorenaMx) November 11, 2023
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