2018 Mexican general election facts for kids

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On July 1, 2018, Mexico held important general elections. People voted for a new President of Mexico, 128 members of the Senate, and 500 members of the Chamber of Deputies. This was one of the biggest election days in Mexico's history. Many states also held local elections for governors and other positions. Over 3,400 government jobs were decided that day.

The president at the time, Enrique Peña Nieto, could not run for president again. This is because of a rule that limits presidents to one six-year term. All members of the legislature were newly elected. This was the first time that lawmakers elected in this election could run for re-election later. The National Electoral Institute (INE) officially started the election process on September 8, 2017.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador from the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) won the presidential election by a large margin. He was part of the Juntos Haremos Historia (Together We Will Make History) group. This was the first time since 1988 that a candidate won with more than half of all votes. It was also the first time a president was elected who was not from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) or its older versions since the Mexican Revolution. Also, for the first time, a group of parties (not including PRI) supporting one presidential candidate won most seats in both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. This election was a big loss for the PRI. It was also the biggest defeat for a sitting Mexican government since 1917.

Contents

• How Mexico's Elections Work

• Electing the President
• Electing the Chamber of Deputies
• Electing the Senate

← 2012 1 July 2018 2024 →
Turnout	63.43%
Nominee Andrés Manuel López Obrador Ricardo Anaya Party Morena (political party) National Action Party (Mexico) Alliance Juntos Haremos Historia Por México al Frente Popular vote 30,113,483 12,610,120 Percentage 54.71% 22.91%   Candidate José Antonio Meade Jaime Rodríguez Calderón Party Institutional Revolutionary Party Independent Alliance Todos por México Popular vote 9,289,853 2,961,732 Percentage 16.88% 5.38%
States won by candidate
President before election Enrique Peña Nieto Institutional Revolutionary Party Elected President Andrés Manuel López Obrador Morena (political party)
Legislative election
← 2015 2021 →
All 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies All 128 seats in the Senate of the Republic
Party Leader % Seats ± Chamber of Deputies Morena (political party) Yeidckol Polevnsky Gurwitz 38.80 191 +156 National Action Party (Mexico) Damián Zepeda Vidales 18.68 81 -28 Institutional Revolutionary Party René Juárez Cisneros 17.22 45 -158 Party of the Democratic Revolution Manuel Granados Covarrubias 5.49 21 -34 Ecologist Green Party of Mexico Carlos Alberto Puente Salas 4.99 16 -31 Citizens' Movement (Mexico) Dante Delgado Rannauro 4.60 27 +2 Labor Party (Mexico) Alberto Anaya 4.09 61 +55 New Alliance Party (Mexico) Luis Castro Obregón 2.57 2 -9 Social Encounter Party Hugo Eric Flores Cervantes 2.50 56 +48 Senate Morena (political party) Yeidckol Polevnsky Gurwitz 39.12 55 New National Action Party (Mexico) Damián Zepeda Vidales 18.35 23 -15 Institutional Revolutionary Party René Juárez Cisneros 16.59 14 -38 Party of the Democratic Revolution Manuel Granados Covarrubias 5.49 8 -14 Citizens' Movement (Mexico) Dante Delgado Rannauro 4.89 7 +5 Ecologist Green Party of Mexico Carlos Alberto Puente Salas 4.65 6 -3 Labor Party (Mexico) Alberto Anaya 3.98 6 +2 Social Encounter Party Hugo Eric Flores Cervantes 2.43 8 New New Alliance Party (Mexico) Luis Castro Obregón 2.41 1 0 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

• Who Ran for President?

• The Por México al Frente Group
• The Todos por México Group
• The Juntos Haremos Historia Group
• Independent Candidates

• Campaign Promises and Ideas

• López Obrador's Promises
• Anaya's Promises
• Meade's Ideas
• Rodríguez Calderón's Ideas

• Election Results

• Presidential Election Results
• Senate Election Results
• Chamber of Deputies Election Results
• Governorship Elections
  • Mexico City Governor Election
  • Chiapas Governor Election
  • Guanajuato Governor Election
  • Jalisco Governor Election
  • Morelos Governor Election
  • Puebla Governor Election
  • Tabasco Governor Election
  • Veracruz Governor Election
  • Yucatán Governor Election

• Who Voted in 2018?
• See also

How Mexico's Elections Work

This section explains how people vote for leaders in Mexico.

Electing the President

The president of Mexico is chosen by a simple vote. The candidate who gets the most votes wins. This is called a plurality system.

Electing the Chamber of Deputies

The Chamber of Deputies has 500 members. They serve for three years.

• 300 members are elected from specific areas. The person with the most votes in that area wins. This is called first-past-the-post voting.
• The other 200 members are chosen based on proportional representation. This means seats are given out based on the percentage of votes parties get.

No single party can hold more than 300 seats. Members can serve up to four terms in a row.

Electing the Senate

The Senate has 128 members. They serve for six years, just like the president.

• 96 senators are elected from 32 areas, with three members from each area. The party with the most votes gets two seats. The party with the second most votes gets one seat.
• The other 32 senators are chosen based on proportional representation from a single national list.

Senators can serve up to two terms.

Who Ran for President?

Many people wanted to be president in 2018. They formed different groups or ran on their own.

The Por México al Frente Group

Por México al Frente means "For Mexico to the Front." This group was made up of:

• The National Action Party (PAN)
• The Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD)
• The Citizens' Movement

These parties joined together to try and win against the ruling PRI party and Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Ricardo Anaya Cortés, who was the leader of the PAN, became the candidate for this group.

The Todos por México Group

Todos por México means "Everyone for Mexico." This group included:

• The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
• The Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM)
• The New Alliance Party (PANAL)

The PRI changed its rules to allow someone who wasn't a long-time member to be their candidate. This helped José Antonio Meade Kuribreña. He was a government official but not a PRI member. He became their presidential candidate.

The Juntos Haremos Historia Group

Juntos Haremos Historia means "Together We Will Make History." This group included:

• The National Regeneration Movement (MORENA)
• The Labor Party (PT)
• The Social Encounter Party (PES)

Andrés Manuel López Obrador was the candidate for this group. This was his third time running for president. He had run twice before with a different party. After the 2012 election, he started MORENA. This was MORENA's first time running in a presidential election.

Independent Candidates

For the first time in Mexico's modern history, people could run for president without being part of a political party.

• Margarita Zavala, a lawyer and former first lady, tried to run as an independent. She later decided to stop her campaign.
• Jaime Rodríguez Calderón, who was the governor of Nuevo León, also ran as an independent.

Logo for Rodríguez's campaign

Campaign Promises and Ideas

During the election, candidates made many promises to the voters.

López Obrador's Promises

• He promised to end special benefits for former presidents, like their lifelong pensions. He said this money would be used to help older citizens.
• He also promised to stop the gasolinazos, which were increases in fuel prices. He planned to build new fuel refineries in Mexico. This would allow Mexico to process more of its own oil into gasoline, making it cheaper.
• López Obrador also said he would investigate past presidents.

Anaya's Promises

• Ricardo Anaya promised to give a basic income to all Mexican citizens. This means everyone would get a certain amount of money regularly.
• He also promised to investigate the current president, Enrique Peña Nieto.

Meade's Ideas

• José Antonio Meade supported the energy reforms made by the previous president. He said he would continue them if he won.
• He proposed creating a "Unique Register of the Necessities of Each Person." This idea was met with some jokes online.

Rodríguez Calderón's Ideas

• Jaime Rodríguez Calderón suggested very strict punishments for people who misuse public money.
• He also proposed bringing back the death penalty for certain serious crimes.

Election Results

On July 1, 2018, Andrés Manuel López Obrador won the presidential election. He received over 50% of the votes. He won in 30 out of 31 states and Mexico City. This was the most states won by a candidate since 1994.

Shortly after the polls closed, José Antonio Meade and Ricardo Anaya both accepted their defeat. Jaime Rodríguez Calderón also recognized López Obrador's victory.

The official results showed that about 63% of eligible voters participated.

• López Obrador received about 53% of the votes.
• Anaya received about 22% of the votes.
• Meade received about 16% of the votes.
• Rodríguez Calderón received about 5% of the votes.

This was the first time since 1994 that a presidential candidate won with more than half of all votes.

Presidential Election Results

Senate Election Results

Party or alliance				Party-list			Constituency			Total seats
				Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Juntos Haremos Historia		Morena	21,256,238	39.12	13	21,013,123	39.03	42	55
			Labor Party	2,164,088	3.98	1	2,149,566	3.99	5	6
			Social Encounter Party	1,320,283	2.43	0	1,311,337	2.44	8	8
		Total		24,740,609	45.54	14	24,474,026	45.46	55	69
	Por México al Frente		National Action Party	9,969,069	18.35	6	9,852,753	18.30	17	23
			Party of the Democratic Revolution	2,982,826	5.49	2	2,973,479	5.52	6	8
			Citizens' Movement	2,654,085	4.89	2	2,621,317	4.87	5	7
		Total		15,605,980	28.72	10	15,447,549	28.70	28	38
	Todos por México		Institutional Revolutionary Party	9,011,312	16.59	6	8,961,369	16.65	8	14
			Ecologist Green Party of Mexico	2,527,710	4.65	2	2,514,578	4.67	4	6
			New Alliance Party	1,306,792	2.41	0	1,299,733	2.41	1	1
		Total		12,845,814	23.64	8	12,775,680	23.73	13	21
	Independents			1,105,624	2.04	0	1,105,624	2.05	0	0
	Non-registered candidates			31,812	0.06	0	30,526	0.06	0	0
Total				54,329,839	100.00	32	53,833,405	100.00	96	128
Valid votes				54,329,839	95.86		53,833,405	95.87
Invalid/blank votes				2,343,942	4.14		2,316,781	4.13
Total votes				56,673,781	100.00		56,150,186	100.00
Source: Diario Oficial, Election Resources

Chamber of Deputies Election Results

Party or alliance				Party-list			Constituency			Total seats
				Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Juntos Haremos Historia		Morena	20,968,859	38.80	85	20,790,623	38.70	106	191
			Labor Party	2,210,988	4.09	3	2,201,192	4.10	58	61
			Social Encounter Party	1,353,499	2.50	0	1,347,540	2.51	56	56
		Total		24,533,346	45.40	88	24,339,355	45.31	220	308
	Por México al Frente		National Action Party	10,093,012	18.68	41	10,033,157	18.68	40	81
			Party of the Democratic Revolution	2,967,452	5.49	12	2,959,800	5.51	9	21
			Citizens' Movement	2,484,185	4.60	10	2,473,056	4.60	17	27
		Total		15,544,649	28.76	63	15,466,013	28.79	66	129
	Todos por México		Institutional Revolutionary Party	9,307,233	17.22	38	9,271,950	17.26	7	45
			Ecologist Green Party of Mexico	2,694,654	4.99	11	2,685,677	5.00	5	16
			New Alliance Party	1,390,882	2.57	0	1,385,421	2.58	2	2
		Total		13,392,769	24.78	49	13,343,048	24.84	14	63
	Independents			538,964	1.00	0	538,964	1.00	0	0
	Non-registered candidates			32,938	0.06	0	32,611	0.06	0	0
Total				54,042,666	100.00	200	53,719,991	100.00	300	500
Valid votes				54,042,666	96.02		53,719,991	96.02
Invalid/blank votes				2,241,811	3.98		2,226,781	3.98
Total votes				56,284,477	100.00		55,946,772	100.00
Source: Diario Oficial, Election Resources

Governorship Elections

Many states also held elections for governor on the same day. Here are some of the results:

Mexico City Governor Election

Chiapas Governor Election

Guanajuato Governor Election

Jalisco Governor Election

Morelos Governor Election

Puebla Governor Election

Tabasco Governor Election

Veracruz Governor Election

Yucatán Governor Election

Who Voted in 2018?

This table shows information about the people who voted in the 2018 election.

See also

In Spanish: Elecciones federales de México de 2018 para niños