Politics: Morena now has its gubernatorial candidates; their selection points to changes in the balance of power within the party

MEXICO - Report 05 Oct 2026 by Guillermo Valdés and Francisco González

Morena has completed the selection of its 17 gubernatorial candidates for 2027, and the process reveals much about the ruling party. Opinion polls, which are the formal selection method, remain opaque and manipulable: results were published late, the firms and methodologies were not disclosed, and a scoring formula turned very small differences into lopsided outcomes, so that seven aspirants "won" with a perfect score of 10. Around one third of the states with polls saw challenges from the losers, such as Zacatecas, Michoacán, Tlaxcala, Baja California Sur, and Guerrero, although so far the dissatisfaction has not materialized into breaks, and it remains unclear whether the losers will leave the party or reach an agreement. No systematic error that changed the winners has been demonstrated either.

The candidates themselves share no common profile; they combine long-time Morena members with politicians from the PRD, PAN, PRI, MC, and the PVEM. The selection also reveals a new distribution of power: AMLO no longer acts as the sole great elector, and Sheinbaum exercises veto and arbitration power rather than imposing her will on the full list, while governors and territorial clans, such as the Monreal family in Zacatecas, have become the main structural winners. This points to a less personalized and more negotiated party, in which the Green Party (PVEM) is gaining ground and the PT is losing relative weight. Finally, Morena sought to protect itself against US accusations of organized-crime links by leaving out dubious figures, with the exception of Baja California's Julieta Ramírez.

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