Electoral Competition in Mexico and Career Trajectories of PRI Gubernatorial Candidates, 1991-2001

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This study examines the relationship between increased competition in Mexican gubernatorial elections and changes in the career trajectories of PRI gubernatorial candidates between 1991 and 2001. Specifically I examine whether or not the PRI changed its electoral strategy in response to increased competition in gubernatorial elections by nominating gubernatorial candidates in subsequent elections who were more “homegrown” and less likely to be perceived by the voters in a state as being imposed on them by the national party organization? To test this hypothesis, the level of Competition in gubernatorial elections in twenty-seven Mexican states was correlated to the PRI gubernatorial candidates' career trajectories in the subsequent elections in those states. The results of the correlation analysis suggest that while winning PRI gubernatorial candidates in subsequent elections have less leadership experience in the federal bureaucracy where competition was high in a previous election, there was only modest evidence to suggest that increased competition in previous elections influenced the amount of prior state/local leadership experience of PRI gubernatorial candidates in subsequent elections. Paradoxically, losing PRI gubernatorial candidates had less prior national party/sector leadership experience and more prior leadership experience in the state/local bureaucracies in states where competition was high in a previous election.