With 71.35% of the acts counted, Adrián de la Garza, from the coalition Force and Heart for Nuevo León (PAN-PRI-PRD) was emerging as the virtual winner in the contest for the Mayor of Monterrey against Mariana Rodríguez, wife of the state governor Samuel García.
By 5:30 pm, with 71.35% of the acts counted, De la Garza led with 38.70% to Rodríguez’s 30.91%, which would make him Mayor of Monterrey for the third time, after governing from 2015 to 2018.
Governor Samuel García, who placed his wife as a candidate in Monterrey and sought to have a majority in the local Congress—a power with which he has had a dispute almost since the beginning of his government—he had not made a statement about the electoral process, at least until this Monday morning, contrary to his characteristic of declaring and posting opinions very early on his social networks.
Initially, after the electoral day concluded this June 2, Mariana Rodríguez came out to tell the public that she had 37.11%, Adrián de la Garza 33.03%, Mauricio Cantú of Morena 11.65%, and Patricio Zambrano of Vida 13.94%.
“This result will be confirmed with the official results and there is a possibility that the results could be even greater. We want to thank Monterrey for its preference, for wanting to continue with the orange government, the government of MC, for wanting to support us and for not wanting the old politics to return to Monterrey,” added the wife of Governor Samuel García.
Rodríguez thanked the citizens of Monterrey for continuing to support the Movimiento Ciudadano project in the state capital.
“We want to thank Monterrey for its preference, for wanting to continue with the orange government, the government of MC, for wanting to support us and for not wanting the old politics to return to Monterrey,” she said.
The MC candidate emphasized that it will be the electoral authority in Nuevo León that will carry out the official count and provide the official results of this electoral process.
However, on the morning of June 3, Mariana Rodríguez acknowledged electoral defeat with a count of 80% of the ballots through videos published on her Instagram profile. In the footage, the MC candidate appears applying makeup. “That’s how life goes, and always with your head held high,” she concluded in her story published on the mentioned social network.
“We Won Monterrey,” says Adrián de la Garza
Shortly after 6:30 PM, Adrián de la Garza, the candidate of the PAN-PRI-PRD coalition, declared himself the winner and stated that he has a lead according to the exit poll results from reputable polling firms.
He mentioned that the exit poll with the smallest margin in his favor gives him a lead of about nine points over the MC candidate, while the highest percentage is 16%.
De la Garza downplayed the results announced by Mariana Rodríguez, which placed him in second place, and highlighted that “the candidate has been saying many things, such as claiming she lives in Monterrey.”
He also predicted that the election might be contested legally but emphasized that his victory remains unchanged because his lead is irreversible and decisive.
De la Garza emphasized that the next step is to ensure the chain of custody by his polling station representatives to defend the votes cast by the people of Monterrey.
He also addressed Governor Samuel García, recommending that he understand the message sent by the people of Monterrey through their votes: they want a serious government, not a frivolous one. “We will tell them how to govern,” he said.
During the election day, the MC candidate mentioned on her social media that phone calls were being made, manipulating her voice using artificial intelligence. She stated that she would report this to the National Electoral Institute (INE).
“I apologize; those calls are being made by others. They are doing it in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta as well. So, I will file a complaint with the INE. I am not violating the electoral silence, and I also demand that the INE help clarify these calls coming from the same number, which are not from me,” she explained.
