2023 Tamaulipas special election
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 21.6962% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A special election was held in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on 19 February 2023 to fill the state's vacant seat in the Senate of the Republic. It was won by José Ramón Gómez Leal of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), who received over 72% of the votes cast in a three-way race.
Background
[edit]Américo Villarreal Anaya of Morena was elected to Tamaulipas's first Senate seat in the 2018 general election[1] but resigned his position to contend for the governorship of Tamaulipas in the 2022 election;[2] he was replaced by his alternate, Faustino López Vargas, on 10 January 2022.[3] Villarreal won the gubernatorial election held on 5 June and, except for a three-day period in September, did not return to his Senate seat.[4]
López Vargas was killed in a traffic accident in Trancoso, Zacatecas, on 8 October 2022.[5] The Senate declared the seat vacant and, in accordance with the Constitution, ordered a special election to cover the vacancy, to be held within a period of no more than three months.[6] The National Electoral Institute (INE) resolved that the election would take place on 19 February 2023.[7][8]
Election
[edit]There were three contenders in the 19 February 2023 election:
- José Ramón Gómez Leal of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), in the Juntos Hacemos Historia en Tamaulipas coalition with the Labour Party (PT), with Indira Paola López Carreto as his alternate.
- Imelda Margarita Sanmiguel Sánchez of the National Action Party (PAN), in the Va por Tamaulipas coalition with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), with Georgina Barrios González as her alternate.
- Manuel Muñoz Cano of the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM), who fought the election without coalition partners, with José Ricardo Espinoza Velázquez as his alternate.
With a low turnout – 21.70% of the 2,738,995 registered voters – election day was described by observers as slow.[9] The count concluded the following day, and from the preliminary results it was clear that Gómez Leal had won the election.[10] The result was confirmed by the INE on 22 February.[11]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| José Ramón Gómez Leal | MORENA–PT | 429,988 | 73.60 | |
| Imelda Margarita Sanmiguel Sánchez | PAN–PRI–PRD | 130,496 | 22.34 | |
| Manuel Muñoz Cano | PVEM | 23,764 | 4.07 | |
| Total | 584,248 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 584,248 | 98.32 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 10,011 | 1.68 | ||
| Total votes | 594,259 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,738,995 | 21.70 | ||
| Source: National Electoral Institute[11] Candidate percentages indicate the proportion of valid votes cast rather than the total vote. | ||||
Aftermath
[edit]Gómez Leal was sworn in as a senator on 7 March 2023.[12] On 20 February 2024 he resigned his seat to seek re-election and was replaced by his alternate, López Carreto, for the remaineder of the congressional session.[13][14] In the 2 June 2024 Senate election, he was elected to Tamaulipas's second Senate seat, sharing the Morena two-person formula with Olga Patricia Sosa Ruiz.[15] Sanmiguel Sánchez, his 2023 opponent, won the state's third seat.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ "Perfil: Sen. Américo Villarreal Anaya, LXIV Legislatura". Sistema de Información Legislativa (SIL). SEGOB. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ Damián, Fernando (7 January 2022). "Pide licencia senador Américo Villarreal; va por gubernatura de Tamaulipas" [Senator Américo Villarreal requests leave of absence to seek Tamaulipas governorship]. Milenio. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Perfil: Sen. Faustino López Vargas, LXV Legislatura". Sistema de Información Legislativa (SIL) (in Spanish). SEGOB. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ^ García, Carina (28 September 2022). "Américo Villarreal obtiene "licencia" como senador para poder tomar protesta" [Américo Villarreal granted leave from the Senate for swearing-in]. Expansión (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
- ^ Mejía, Irma (8 October 2022). "Ponchadura de un neumático, la causa del accidente fatal del senador por Tamaulipas, Faustino López y su esposa" [Tyre blowout caused the accident that killed Tamaulipas senator Faustino López and his wife]. El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ Ramos, Rolando (9 October 2022). "Senado declara vacante la senaduría por Tamaulipas tras la muerte de Faustino López Vargas" [Senate declares Tamaulipas's Senate seat vacant after the death of Faustino López Vargas]. El Economista (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Prepara INE elección extraordinaria de una Senaduría de Mayoría Relativa en Tamaulipas y Procesos Electorales Locales 2023" [INE prepares for special Senate election in Tamaulipas and 2023 state elections]. Central Electoral. INE. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Elección Federal Extraordinaria, Tamaulipas 2023". Voto y elecciones. INE. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Reportan baja participación en elección extraordinaria de Tamaulipas para elegir senador" [Low turnout reported in special election to elect senator in Tamaulipas]. El Universal. 19 February 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Con más de 421 mil votos, José Ramón Gómez Leal arrasó en las elecciones de Tamaulipas" [With over 421,00 votes, José Ramón Gómez Leal sweeps election in Tamaulipas]. Infobae. 20 February 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ a b "Elección Extraordinaria. Senaduría. Tamaulipas". Cómputos Distritales 2023. INE. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Perfil: Sen. José Ramón Gómez Leal, LXV Legislatura". Sistema de Información Legislativa (SIL). SEGOB. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Perfil: Sen. Indira Paola López Carreto, LXV Legislatura". Sistema de Información Legislativa (SIL). SEGOB. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ Rangole, Itzia (6 March 2024). "¿Quiénes son los actuales senadores de Tamaulipas? Perfiles e iniciativas" [Who are Tamaulipas's current senators? Profiles and initiatives]. El Sol de Tampico. OEM. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Perfil: Sen. José Ramón Gómez Leal, LXVI Legislatura". Sistema de Información Legislativa (SIL). SEGOB. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Senadurías. Tamaulipas". Cómputos Distritales 2024. INE. Retrieved 16 July 2025.