Opposition Wins Most Seats in Baja Vote Upset

The opposition National Action Party has won a plurality in the next Baja California state legislature, Mexican political parties said Wednesday, as the counting of ballots in the governor’s race proceeded at a tortuous pace.

In addition, Jesus del Palacio la Fontaine, the candidate of National Action, known as the PAN, won the mayor’s race in Ensenada. PAN had been widely expected to win that post.

The PAN has been battling with the long-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, over control of the state body as a result of the July 2 elections.

Of the 15 elected state government seats, the PAN won eight and the PRI garnered seven. Results from two Mexicali districts were made official Wednesday, and the two parties split them.

Four other seats are apportioned to minority parties, meaning neither the PAN nor the PRI will have a true majority when the new legislature convenes Oct. 1. Both the PAN and the PRI are likely to seek alliances with the smaller parties to pass their programs.

The PAN, citing alleged irregularities in the count, said it planned to contest the PRI victory in the 3rd District of Mexicali before the state Electoral College, which is now likely to be dominated by PAN members.

The PAN has vowed to enact sweeping electoral reforms to make opposition victories easier in the future.

The new legislature will mark the first time in the history of Baja California, and possibly in national history, that the PRI does not control a state governing body.

Officials of the PRI have already conceded that the PAN’s gubernatorial candidate, Ernesto Ruffo Appel, is the likely winner of the governor’s race. However, counting of the gubernatorial ballots has been very deliberate, sparking charges that the ruling party is attempting to alter the official results.

The nominally independent State Electoral Commission, which oversees the counting process, has stated that the slow pace of the count was caused by the many challenges by all parties. The PAN has charged that the commission is manipulated by the PRI leaders--a charge denied by the commission and PRI officials.

Results of the governor’s race are expected to be released sometime before Sunday, when the state’s new governor is scheduled to be officially recognized as the winner. The new chief executive takes office Nov. 1.

The PAN won all six legislative slots from Tijuana, and elected the city’s first opposition mayor. The PRI won the mayor’s races in Mexicali, the state capital, and in Tecate.