Free Republic

WASHINGTON, June 17 (by Karin Zeitvogel for RIA Novosti) – Mexicans in the thousands have pledged their support for a political candidate with a different outlook in next month’s mayoral election in Xalapa: a black and white cat called Morris who’s vowing to rid the university city of rats. “Tired of voting for rats? Vote for a cat. Only a cat can restore order in the face of all the rats who go after political posts,” reads the slogan on the Facebook page of “El Candigato,” which is a play on the words “candidate” and “cat” in Spanish. Morris is...

With Mexico's presidential election one month away, the leftist candidate is making modest gains while the incumbent party's contender has slipped, polls show. The polls thus far, however, do not alter the front-runner status of Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the PRI, which is attempting to return to presidential power after a loss in 2000 ended its seven-decade rule. Opinion surveys released this week showed Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, heading a coalition of leftist parties, inching into second place, dislodging Josefina Vazquez Mota of the National Action Party, or PAN, of President Felipe Calderon. The margin between...

Reporting from Mexico City — In elections marred by violence, intimidation and the growing influence of drug traffickers, Mexicans chose governors or other local officials in 14 states Sunday. Preliminary results Monday showed the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) winning most governorships but failing to alter its overall hold on power. President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party, in alliance with leftist parties, stunned the PRI by winning in two of its historic bastions, Oaxaca and Puebla, according to preliminary results. The PRI, which dominated Mexico for 70 years until 2000, had hoped a strong showing would bolster its campaign to...