Mexicans head to polls in consequential midterms

METEPEC, Mexico

Mexico will hold what is being called the most consequential election in its history on Sunday.

Mexicans will cast votes to determine 500 lawmakers that constitute the entirety of the lower house.

In 15 of 32 states, governors will be elected. And, more than 20,000 local positions will be designated.

The midterms will reshape the political map that has reigned for the past three years and will define the remaining years in office of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

More than 93 million citizens are eligible to vote, an increase of 4 million from the previous elections in 2018, where the number of registered voters was 89 million.

According to polling service, Occulus, Lopez Obrador's MORENA ruling party, leads in pre-vote polls with 41% amongst Mexicans.

On a state level, MORENA is expected to win nine of 15 state governments and maintain the majority in the lower house, where it has more than 60% of the seats.

The opposition group in second is an alliance between the biggest political projects in the country that have previously governed Mexico – the PRI party and PAN -- a coalition created to get voters opposed to the MORENA administration.

It has 34% support combined.

Most of its campaign has centered on MORENA's over-representation in Congress.

So far, Obrador's administration has been able to push legislation, public spending budgets and initiatives without much opposition.

But Jorge Gonzalez Marquez is a businessman who sees the opposition group as the way to go on Sunday.

“We must reinforce the opposition, create a counterweight or balance the decisions that are made in the Chamber of Deputies. The cameras are the most important thing -- far from worrying about municipal offices, the Congress is where the power is,” he said.

But national displeasure with past administrations is weighing on the minds of most Mexicans. Corruption scandals are lingering in the minds, pushing voting intentions toward the populist MORENA.

Erick Jonathan Velazquez Salas is a member of PAN in the state of Mexico but he is supporting the MORENA candidate for mayor of Metepec.

The coalition between his party and PRI falls short of the democratic ideals his political affiliation represents.

"They only make a counterweight for interests; they do not make a real counterweight based on ideals. The truth is that Mexico will not progress without concrete proposals. What the president speaks every day about this sphere of power conformed by the PRI and the PAN parties -- they confirmed it, " said Erick.

The coalition, for him, represents outdated politics, where the PRI has sustained its power by appointing allies in political positions rather than letting constituents elect candidates.

"We are people who come from below, from the lower structures, we have worked, and we come from the people. Today MORENA opens the doors for us to win these political leaderships," he said.

Lopez Obrador’s approval rating is more than 50%. The coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences has not challenged his popularity.

But an enraged opposition, however, could take his administration on a different path.