Ruling Party Wins Mexico Race

MEXICO CITY — Authorities Sunday certified Mexico’s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) as the landslide victor in a hotly contested gubernatorial contest in the state of Yucatan.

Ruling party candidates also emerged victorious in 102 of the 106 mayoral contests and 14 of 15 elections for state legislative seats, according to official results.

The near-sweep was announced one week after statewide elections that opposition parties charged were tainted by ballot-stuffing, voter intimidation and other illegal practices.

The volatile Yucatan vote was widely viewed as a test of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari’s pledge to eliminate the fraud that has long marred Mexican elections and ensure clean elections in next August’s presidential race.

The PRI’s gubernatorial candidate, Federico Granje Ricalde, garnered 59% of the more than 500,000 votes cast, according to official results. That compared to 37% for his nearest challenger, Ana Rosa Payan of the right-wing National Action Party.

Enraged National Action activists called on authorities to annul the results. PRI leaders dismissed the protests as sour grapes.