Tough setbacks for ruling party in Mexican governor races

Hobbled by corruption scandals, violence and a weak economy, the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party lost four states it has never lost before, including the northern border state of Tamaulipas, across the border from Texas.

According to preliminary results, it was only winning five.

“Mexicans have been angered by several corruption scandals and worried about a sluggish economy, and they showed their frustration at the ballot box,” said Andrew Selee, a Mexico expert at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington.

An unusual alliance between the PAN and the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, resulted in wins in the northern state of Durango, Quintana Roo and Veracruz.