Mexico Leftist Leads Presidential Race by 11 Points: Poll

Left-wing Mexican presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has an 11-point lead over rivals, according to an opinion poll published Wednesday, with his closest rival gaining slightly and the ruling party candidate losing support.

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Lopez Obrador holds 34 percent of the vote, eleven percentage points more than Ricardo Anaya of the coalition "For Mexico in Front" with 23 percent, according to the survey by polling firm Parametria, published by Reuters Wednesday ahead of wider publication.

Ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI, candidate Jose Antonio Meade, a former finance minister, slipped two points from an earlier opinion poll to 18 percent, 16 points behind the frontrunner.

The survey, carried out and financed by Parametria, was taken between Jan. 25 and Feb. 2. Of the 1,000 people interviewed in their homes, 14 percent either did not answer, responded that they did not know or could not choose a candidate listed.

The results are broadly in line with a separate opinion poll published on Tuesday by newspaper El Financiero, which gave leftist Lopez Obrador an 11 point lead, with Anaya, the former chairman of the conservative National Action Party, gaining ground fast and Meade gaining slightly.

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Lopez Obrador’s campaign for the left-wing Morena party will be focused on tackling inequality and corruption while increasing the minimum wage and pensions, guaranteeing jobs and schooling for over 2.5 million youth. He also vowed to review billions of dollars of private oil contracts if he wins the presidency. 

He ran for president with Democratic Revolution Party, PRD, in 2006 against Felipe Calderon and again in 2012 against current President Enrique Peña Nieto, both of the PRI. Both elections were mired in controversy and hotly contested.

After the 2012 election, Lopez Obrador withdrew from the PRD and formed his own political party, Morena.

The July 1 election could be the first time that independent candidates make it onto the ballot, changing the dynamics of the campaign, said Parametria founder Francisco Abundis.

Three hopefuls are likely to collect enough signatures to go on the ballot, regulator INE data showed, and their mere presence takes votes from Anaya and Lopez Obrador.