Tijuana, Mexico — A wealthy dog track owner and an economist from Mexico’s ruling party vied to become governor of Baja California state in a tight election today as polls opened under the close watch of election observers on the lookout for fraud.
Local news media conducted informal exit polls as lines of a dozen or so voters formed to cast early votes in the election, across the border from California and Arizona.
Most polls give a slight advantage to economist Jose Guadalupe Osuna, of President Felipe Calderon’s National Action Party.
His formidable opponent is Tijuana Mayor Jorge Hank Rhon — a self-proclaimed billionaire who built a faithful following as mayor by rounding up petty thieves, launching programs to keep kids in school and meeting privately with anyone from the public who asked to see him.
Osuna has accused Hank Rhon, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, of corruption and ties to drug traffickers, but Hank Rhon denies the charges, calling them politically motivated.
A second election was taking place today in southern Oaxaca state, where protesters who took over the state capital for months last year urged voters to reject lawmakers aligned with PRI Gov.
Ulises Ruiz. The protesters accuse Ruiz of rigging his election in 2004 and warn of similar dirty tactics in today’s election. Ruiz denies the fraud allegations. He still has three years left in his term.
Hours before the polls opened, a journalist was shot four times by unidentified assailants as he was arriving at his home in the Oaxaca city of Salina Cruz, Ruiz’s office announced in a news release.
Alberto Fernandez was taken to a local hospital, where he was in delicate condition, said the release, which ruled out any connection to the elections. Polling “is taking place peacefully,” the governor’s office said.
