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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | April 2006 
Mexican Poll Shows Leftist Front-Runner Slipping
 Associated Press
| | Mexican leftist presidential front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador during a rally in the southern town of Metlatonoc. Lopez Obrador's lead slipped slightly in a poll released this week, after widening in other recent polls ahead of July elections. (Daniel Aguilar/Reuters) |
Mexico City The front-runner in the run-up to the country's July 2 presidential election, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is losing ground, while the second- and third-placed candidates are tied, according to a Mexico City newspaper poll.
It was the second poll released in the past two weeks showing Lopez Obrador slipping a bit in the race. The poll was conducted by Maria de la Heras, one of Mexico's most prominent opinion pollsters who predicted President Vicente Fox's 2000 victory.
The poll published in the Mexico City newspaper Milenio said Lopez Obrador, of the left-wing Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, had 34 percent of voter preferences in April, down from 38 percent in March.
Felipe Calderon of the ruling National Action Party, or PAN, are tied with 31 percent of voter preferences, according to the poll. Calderon rose about one percentage point from previous polls in March, while Madrazo jumped 2 percentage points.
The poll was conducted among 1,000 registered voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
Heras attributed the frontrunner's drop in the poll to his party recruiting former PRI members for congressional seats that will also be up in July.
She said Lopez Obrador's campaign was also hurt by PAN-funded commercials comparing the leftist candidate to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Other newspaper polls released in early March showed Lopez Obrador extending his lead over Calderon and Madrazo, with two of them giving the leftist candidate a 10-point lead over his nearest rival.
The winner of the July election will replace President Vicente Fox, whose six-year term ends Dec. 1. Fox is banned by the constitution for running for a second term.
Luis Carlos Ugalde, president of Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute, said Wednesday the race is shaping up to be Mexico's most competitive (race) in recent history. |
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