483 citizens seek to become independent candidates

By Sharenii Guzmán and Ramón Treviño

The victories of independent candidates in 2015 elections pushed state legislatures to pass laws aimed at curbing citizens who seek elected office. However, this year at least 483 people that do not belong to any political party got registered as candidates for governor, mayor and local congressmen in 13 states.

The state with more independent candidates is Veracruz: 54 for governor and 52 for congressmen, followed by Tlaxcala, with 2 for governor, 27 for mayor, 4 for congressman and five for community president. Zacatecas has two independent candidates for governor, 18 for mayor and 3 for congressmen, while Quintana Roo has 18 registered candidates (2 for governor, 6 for mayor and 10 for congressman).

Other states with independent hopefuls are Chihuahua (1 for governor, 21 for mayor and 13 for congressman); Durango (2 for governor, 12 for mayor, 9 for congressman), Hidalgo (1 for governor, 45 for mayor); Oaxaca (3 for governor, 46 for mayor, 8 for congressman); Puebla (7 for governor); Sinaloa (2 for governor, 8 for mayor, 26 for congressman); Tamaulipas (1 for governor, 34 for mayor, 14 for congressman) and Baja California (16 for mayor and 27 for congressman).

The figure is similar to that of 2015, when almost 500 independent candidates were registered by electoral authorities, even though only 21 met the requirements and six were elected by direct vote, including Jaime Rodríguez Calderón, the governor of Nuevo León better known as “El Bronco”. Pedro Kumamoto, local congressman in Jalisco, was the only independent candidate without partisan past.