President’s party looks to clean up in state races in Mexico

By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Sunday’s gubernatorial elections in six Mexican states may be the high-water mark for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Morena party, which is poised to take at least four of the six races. There has been a stampede by politicians of all stripes to join or ally themselves with Morena for political survival. Ironically, at its point of greatest power, Morena may also be about to enter its phase of greatest vulnerability: taking over the governorship of an intractably cartel-dominated border state like Tamaulipas, and start of the divisive internal contest to see who will replace López Obrador, who leaves office in 2024.