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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2005 
Poll Shows Tight Race for Presidential Nomination of Major Mexican Party
 Associated Press
| | Those who said they favored the PRI "somewhat" leaned 47-41 toward Arturo Montiel, whose term as Mexico State governor ended on Friday. |
Mexico City – A poll released Friday showed a tight race for the presidential nomination of the Institutional Revolutionary Party that ruled Mexico for 71 years before losing the 2000 election.
Two former state governors, Roberto Madrazo and Montiel, were in a statistical tie at 45 and 44 percent in the poll by the newspaper Reforma. It had a 4 percentage point margin of error.
The poll of 605 people who said they support the party, known as the PRI, was taken by telephone, however, and most Mexicans do not have telephones.
Madrazo, former governor of Tabasco state, has long been the front-runner for the PRI's nomination in the July 2006 election. He had led Montiel by 45-40 percent in August and by far larger margins in many earlier polls.
The polls indicated that Madrazo still has a 51-41 advantage among hard-core PRI members "very interested" in voting in the party primary, whose date has not yet been set.
But he is weaker among people who don't identify strongly with the party – a majority of Mexicans. Those who said they favored the PRI "somewhat" leaned 47-41 toward Montiel, whose term as Mexico State governor ended on Friday.
Eighty-three percent of Madrazo backers said they would vote for any PRI candidate. Eleven percent would vote for another party and 5 percent would not vote. Among those who leaned toward Montiel, 70 percent said they would vote for any PRI candidate, but 20 percent said they would shift to another party if Montiel was not the candidate.
Asked which candidate was more able, 44 percent said Madrazo and 38 percent Montiel. Asked which was the more corrupt, 34 percent said Madrazo and 10 percent Montiel. |
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