By Gabriela Minjares and Rocio Gallegos / La Verdad Juárez
Translation: El Paso Matters
Ciudad Juárez– Incumbent Cruz Pérez Cuéllar was sweepingly re-elected mayor of Ciudad Juárez on Sunday under the Let’s Keep Making History coalition, endorsing Morena as the dominant political party in the city, projections show.
The Morena party also dominated Mexico’s presidential race, with Claudia Sheinbaum projected to win and becoming the first woman in the role. She registered up to 60.7% of the vote counted Sunday night, according to the National Electoral Institute. She succeeds Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Pérez Cuéllar earned about 58% of the votes counted early Monday among six candidates for the seat.
As he celebrated his victory starting at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Pérez Cuéllar thanked his supporters but called out his opponents for what he called the “dirty war” that was launched against him by the Institutional Renewal Party of National Action, or PRIAN.
“From the depths of my heart, from the recesses of my soul, I thank you for your support, because despite all the slander, this historic dirty war that Ciudad Juárez had never experienced, you ignored these cowards and went out to vote to support me,” Pérez Cuéllar said. “Thank you. I am not going to fail you. I am going to work even harder for the transformation of this city.”
He didn’t answer any questions from the media but was expected to hold a news conference Monday.
The Preliminary Electoral Results Program, or PREP, released preliminary figures Sunday and is expected to release final results by midnight Tuesday.
This year, PREP estimates a voter turnout of about 48.7%.
In the last Juárez election of 2021, Pérez Cuéllar won the mayoral seat with nearly 49% of the votes in an election that set a record with a 38% voter turnout.
